Crewman Horndog screws his way thru Schwartzwelt
by Cyberchao X
Summary: Properly called "Crewman Horndog screws his way through the Schwartzwelt", this is...exactly that, as our hapless protagonist ends up solving the mysteries of the Schwarzwelt while trying to build a demonic harem.
1. Chapter 1: Enter The Horndog

Crewman Horndog screws his way through the Schwartzwelt  
>by Cyberchao X<p>

Disclaimer: The _Shin Megami Tensei_ series is property of Atlus.

CCX: So, this is going to be a kind of unconventional fanfic, in that while the dialogue will obviously be made up by me (like most player characters, the SMT:SJ protagonist isn't terribly chatty in-game), but this will be based around an actual playthrough. Given how badly my previous attempts at conventional playthrough topics on forums have gone, this probably means it will turn out horribly. But, of course, this also means that for my very first New Game Plus (I actually got this idea before I even managed to finish the game, and decided I'd do this for my second playthrough), I'm imposing unnecessary restrictions on myself. So, hopefully my quest to chronicle the adventures of Crewman Randy Horndog as he attempts to build a demonic harem will be successful and enjoyable.

* * *

><p>Chapter 1: Enter the Horndog<p>

Personality Test:

"Scenario 1: You are the sole survivor on a battlefield. You are hidden, with no ammunition in your pistol. You detect a single enemy approaching. How will you deal with this enemy, equipped with only an empty gun?"

_Use whatever's handy. Hopefully I have a knife as well, although I'd hit him with the empty gun if necessary._

"Scenario 2: When infiltrating enemy territory, you spot the man who killed your comrade and closest friend. You can kill him easily, but the gunshot will expose you and your infiltration will be compromised. Will you avenge your friend or focus on your objective?"

_The mission. If this guy had taken away something worth avenging, he'd be dead already._

"Scenario 3: You have been in a remote area on a mission and your relief has not arrived on schedule. You can abort the mission and go home now, but you have enough supplies to stay here longer. What do you do?"

_Depends on if I've got a date lined up for the night. What's up with this personality test, anyway?_

"Scenario 4: You are piloting a helicopter to refuel. En route, an ally under attack requests help. You can help him, but it will take your remaining fuel, and it will be difficult to leave afterward. Other pilots have also received the distress signal, but you are the closest to his position. What will you do with the fuel you have left?"

_Obviously I've got to worry about my own hide. Refuel._

"Scenario 5: On a mission in occupied territory, you are asked whether to capture a religious leader who may be a spy. Catching a spy may be a great achievement, but the people may riot if this leader is captured. How will you approach the religious leader suspect of spying?"

_Same as any other potential spy._

"Final question. Scenario 6: You have been sent to the Schwarzwelt, where conditions are expected to be harsh. Yet you have advanced equipment, a strong ship, the latest tech, and dependable comrades. Will the Schwarzwelt investigation mission succeed?"

_How the hell should I know?_

"Input error. Please enter your answer again."

_What the fuck? Ah, I get it, I'm supposed to play the optimist and say "Of course it will succeed!" Damnit, there'd better be some worthwhile babes on the Red Sprite…_

The mission begins…horribly.

"What the fuck? This isn't the Red Sprite! Who are you?"

"_What fruitless things do humans attempt…"_

"_Do they know who it is they are dealing with?"_

"_They cannot. If they did, they would not attempt this…"_

"'_Tis true. After all, there is no stopping the world's end…"_

"World's end? What are you talking about? Can you even hear me?"

"_Hmm… It seems one of them has found his way in here."_

_Well, I guess this means that I _am_ physically here…wherever "here" is._

"_Leave him. He is but a soul that will soon crumble."_

"_No… no, this man… he may prove interesting."_

"_Not_ interested."

"_Now that you mention it… he does look like a hardy one."_

"_Really_ not interested, though I'm flattered."

"_His soul will not be devoured so easily."_

"Okay…now you're just scaring me."

"…Horndog! Horndog! … Alright, he's breathing again! We can rest easy now!"

_What…just…happened?_

"M-Man down! We're under attack! One officer down… unknown assailant…!"

"Terry! What's going on?" the commander asked.

"…I can't see him! I can't tell who's attacking us…! Wh-what do we do? Commander, your orders, please! …! Another man down! Whaa! -Argh- …Ahhh… …ugh…"

…_And of course, it falls on me to investigate._ Horndog went to the deck and met up with Terry, who apparently hadn't died after all. Terry started up the subreactor, but then one of the other strike team members was attacked by something invisible. Suddenly, as another strike team member fell, Horndog received something called the Demon Summoning Program. Two foul Slimes attacked. "Nasty…but apparently, very weak against elemental attacks." A few Fire Shots easily cleared them out. Horndog reported back to the command room and found out that this program allowed him to control demons as well. _Hmm…I wonder…_ Before Horndog could get too absorbed in his fantasies of dominating big-busted, leather-clad demonesses, however, there was another SOS from the medical staff. However, when he went to the sickbay, he was told to go heal himself. "Isn't that what the sickbay is for?" (Note: This really happens in the game. Well, not the protagonist's snarky response, but the "go heal yourself" thing turning you away from the sickbay.) He went to the lab instead, and received some medicine. _Huh…she's kinda cute. Maybe once things get a bit less hectic…_ Now fully healed, he found more slimes in the sickbay, and dispatched them the same way, leveling up his Demonica in the process. He then disembarked to Sector Antlia. Shortly after arriving, a strange demon started speaking in symbols.

"What the…"

"Oh, sorry. I need to do this so you can see me, huh? Ummm… Hi there, human! I'm pretty interested in you guys. So c'mon, let's play!"

"The…feeling's mutual," Horndog replied, wondering whether it would be possible to fuck something as small as the pixie that stood, or rather flew, before him. It clearly had the proportions of an adult female, but…

The pixie joined Horndog. "I could come to enjoy this place…"

* * *

><p>CCX: Now obviously, with this being a New Game Plus, I could obviously summon up a bunch of high-level demons…but for accuracy's sake, I won't summon anything I couldn't normally get at a given point. Still, I'm sure you already see the problem with me and playthrough topics—my compulsive need to type up everything that happens <em>as soon as it happens.<em> Ja ne!


	2. Chapter 2: New Alliances

Crewman Horndog screws his way through the Schwartzwelt  
>by Cyberchao X<p>

Disclaimer: The _Shin Megami Tensei_ series is property of Atlus.

Chapter 2: New Alliances

Before long, Horndog had explored all that he could of Sector Antlia. Upon saving Irving, he found a number of items to be available, and equipped himself as best he could before going back out. _Not even a scratch…there's no way. Why was I able to beat it so quickly, when the Commander…_

The crew returned to the ship with Commander Gore's body, along with Crewman Jimenez of the Blue Jet. Jimenez reluctantly joined the crew of the Red Sprite, expressing his desire to get out of the Schwartzwelt, a sentiment that Horndog agreed with. He also seemed resistant to the idea of using demons. "They're not all bad," Horndog replied, thinking of his Pixie friend. Together they went out to retrieve the Blue Jet's Tokamak Motor. They found the ship's terminal as well. Irving then announced that he'd finished analyzing the Lemegetonite that Horndog had picked up from the demon that had killed Gore. Before long, he had Sub Apps and Demon Fusion on his side. He ventured back in, and before long, he'd found another pixie in need. "Can't refuse a pretty lady like that." He quickly procured the bead she needed.

"Thanks. I wish there was somewhere quiet I could settle down…"

"How about with me?" The Pixie either didn't hear him or misunderstood his offer. Shortly afterwards, he was outside, and with that, he found… "Well, hello, beautiful!"

"Hey, isn't there a term for when a guy tried to get a girl's attention? Um… What's it called again?"

"Approaching her?"

"Um…I'm not too sure, but that sounds right. Well, whatever! I'll cut you some slack and say that's it!" The demon continued. "Hey…between a girl like me and an older woman… Which would you go for?"

_Can't answer this one honestly. Better say the young girl, even though I'd really go for both._ "Wow, you're a grown man and you like little girls? Is that what goes through your mind when you talk to me?" _Shit…_ "Hmm, well, all right. I do want to chat a little longer…" _That's right, cutie, you want me._ "Hey, you're pretty good at making small talk. Maybe it's because you're always talking to girls?"

"Found me out, huh?"

"Haha, just kidding! Oh yeah… here, this is for you. I've taken a shine to you, so it's a present from me!" And with that, the Hua Po gave Crewman Horndog a Balm of Rising.

"This is…pretty valuable, actually. Thanks…"

"If you keep talking to girls, people will think you're a weird, dirty, old man. All things in moderation!"

"…Was she really _that_ young?"

(CCX: Yes, it turns out that my previous save file had ended one negotiation shy of another automatic reward on the Girly personality. Go figure. The next Hua Po then did the "start attacking as soon as the conversation is initiated" thing.)

Eventually, he managed to win over a Hua Po, and then he decided to take a look at what he could create via fusion… "Lilim. Pleased to meet you. We're going to have a blast together, I'm sure…"

* * *

><p>Soon after, he had a full party, comprised of the Lilim and a new Pixie and Hua Po. Horndog found this useful from a tactical standpoint as well, as Lilim's attacks used electricity, which picked up most of the demons that weren't weak against the Fire spells that the rest of the party slung. However, issues would arise once a fourth member was recruited, a Divine Angel. The Angel, the Lilim, and the Hua Po had very different theologies, so combos were hard. The solution, of course, was to keep on fusing—Lilim and Angel become Hathor, and then he gets a new Lilim from Pixie and Hua Po. The new Lilim would be even stronger, as she would be forged with a Pixie's Fairy Source (ZioMazio/Dia/Charm Strike/Media/Agi), He used his summoning ability to resummon the Fairy and Hua Po, and sweet-talked another Angel into the party.

With this new party, he continued to make his way through Antlia. He found himself frustrated by the beautiful Angel's unwillingness to submit, and instead amused himself with the Hathor, though he was not terribly enamored of her appearance. Lilim, however, was his favorite. He found himself nearing the point that was mapped out for him. "Time to have some fun," he told her.

"The type of fun where I get to beat up on other demons, or the type where I take my clothes off?"

"Both. But right now, the first one." They found themselves face-to-face with Tyrant Morax, who looked like a buffalo. "Blah blah blah, rhetoric," was Horndog's response to Morax's speech. "Yeah, I know that humans aren't perfect either. Go away." He attempted to burn the tyrant, only to find it reflected back at him. Beaten, he had to retreat. "Okay, that was stupid..."

"If fire doesn't work at all, maybe ice will," Hathor suggested.

"But none of you have ice spells," Horndog replied. He went back to the ship. There, he managed to get a gun that could fire ice shots. When he challenged Morax again, he easily won. It was time to explore a new region.

* * *

><p>CCX: Wow. That...didn't really get much longer. Also, it really looks like the incoherence was worse than I thought.<p> 


	3. Chapter 3: Bootes Call

Crewman Horndog screws his way through the Schwartzwelt  
>by Cyberchao X<p>

Disclaimer: The _Shin Megami Tensei_ series is property of Atlus.

Chapter 3: Bootes Call

"Yeesh. This place is just wrong," Crewman Jimenez said. "How would you describe it? Creepy? Tacky? Whatever it is, it sucks."

"Yeah…I've been to places like this before back on Earth, and they're rarely good news."

"It does seem like the kind of thing demons would go for, though… Loud and irritating," another crew member said. "Then again, I've known my share of humans who love places like this, too." The crew split up.

"'Rarely good news,' huh?" Lilim asked.

"Yeah. Most of the people you'd find there are more trouble than they're worth."

"This is the region that my race call home."

"…Well, then, it's obvious that things are different here than they are where I come from."

"You're just saying that so I'll continue putting out."

"…No. Well, maybe."

Lilim laughed. "You're so adorable like that."

Before long, they ran into a pair of Harpies and a Katakirauwa. Horndog attempted to engage one of the Harpies in conversation. She seemed reluctant.

"I'll get to the heart of things and ask your first impression of me. Hmm… how best to ask…? …Compare me to a fruit."

_There is no right way to answer that question…_ "…A tomato."

"And what, pray tell, do you mean by that? Your judgment reeks of poor taste… Why, a tomato isn't even a fruit! Ignorant, tasteless men like you want crushing and killing. Become a crushed tomato!" She attacked. Undeterred, Horndog approached the other Harpy.

"Er… Where are you staring at…?"

_Like you really need to ask? But what does she _want_ to hear?_

"You may think your mask veils your gaze, but I can tell…you were ogling me, weren't you?"

"What's wrong with that?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing. Was there something in my tone that implied otherwise? This may come off as boastful, but my figure is nothing I'd be ashamed to have others see." _Whew, got it right. She's vain enough to be flattered by it._ "By the by… it was in this world that you encountered demons for the first time, no? You must have met all manner of demons, each one of which provoked its own reaction in you… What did you feel when you met me?"

_I can't answer that honestly. Not with Lilim standing right there, anyway._ "Joy," he said.

"Ahahah… Human or demon, it's in every man's nature to be overcome with joy over a beautiful woman. I appreciate your honesty. Now, become more and more spellbound by my beauty…"

_God, this chick is vain. Still, I think I've got this one._ He successfully swayed her over to his side. It wasn't long, though, before he got tired of her and decided to fuse her to another demon. He bid Hua Po adieu and created Moh Shuvuu. He then moved her into the Angel's place in the party, as he already had the Angel's Source. He quickly found a place to launch the signal beacon. Soon thereafter, he met a demon that instantly caught his eye. "Huh? You want to talk to me? Uh, okay, I guess… never thought I'd get to talk to a human, though. It's kinda funny how things work out. By the way, why'd you talk to me?" Horndog decided it was best to be straightforward and said that he wanted her to be his demon. "I guess I'm dependable, then…? I dunno how to take that. It makes me seem muscular or something. Though I guess it wasn't meant as an insult. So I guess the human world used to be a pretty big deal? But now, the humans have made a mess of the place…You can't fix it somehow?"

"I'm only one person. It takes a lot of people to fix something that screwed-up." Leanan Sidhe didn't seem to like this response, but let it slide, and decided to join him anyway…but then got a closer look and changed her mind, calling him too weak. Another encounter with a Leanan Sidhe followed soon thereafter, but Horndog dejectedly spoke to a Katakirauwa instead. She didn't look very human-like at all, and talking to her, she sounded like a senior citizen, but while she wasn't a potential lay, Horndog saw no harm in acquiring another ally.

As he continued on, he suddenly got a weird message. "Hey! Who the hell is this? What's so funny? Stop laughing…! Is that you, Horndog? Are you the one who's laughing?"

"…I don't hear anyone laughing here, Norris man," Jimenez replied. "You don't hear anything, do you, Randy? Yeah, nope."

"Huh? No one's laughing…? Well what was it, then? Someone was laughing like they were having a blast… If it wasn't over the radio, it must have been coming from the field…"

Not long after this incident, an encounter with a pair of Azumis led to Hathor leveling up. "Wow… we've been together for a while now. Here… this shows how I feel about you." She gave Horndog her source. _Poor girl, still so innocent. I feel kind of bad using her like that,_ Horndog thought. Another encounter leveled up Lilim, who changed a skill, replacing Agi with Magaru. Unfortunate, as both Moh Shuvuu and Hathor already had that spell…Further exploration brought a new rare forma, another launched signal beacon, and a weird encounter with the Disir and Yggdrassil, in which he somehow did something heroic without having the slightest idea how. He returned to the ship, received a new mission and a new main app, and proceeded to watch as Norris went even more crazy.

"Geez…if I ever get like that…"

"You won't; your will is too strong," Lilim assured him.

"But if I do…please just kill me."

"What if I fuck you until you come back to your senses?"

"Even better. And if it looks like I might not come to my senses…"

"Yeah. Then I kill you."

"Thanks." He soon found himself inside an extravagant palace, which was probably the one mentioned by a demon that he'd found outside. Belonging to a "Mitra", was it? He encountered a femme called an Acheri and attempted to chat her up, but forgot that it was a full moon. Later, he got a proper opportunity. "Hey, you know, I'm not a human girl. I'm a demon. Aren't you scared of demons?"

"Nah. You're still a girl, and that's fine with me."

"Ahahah, you're right. My mom's always telling me girls should be graceful."

_Surprised she actually accepted that…_

"Hey, I've heard the environment in your world is really messed up right now. What're humans doing about it?" (CCX: None of the options given are terribly good.) He told her nothing could be done, and while she didn't like that attitude, she went along anyway. He then fused her with a demon that had pretty much insisted on joining the party to create Lady Pele, using Hathor's source to give her the ability Recarm, then unexpectedly found that fusing this demon with Lilim would create the Leanan Sidhe he'd desired. He did so, then resummoned Pele, Acheri, and Lilim. The new party was frustratingly lacking in attack skills, but unified in philosophy. He came upon an enemy party consisting only of a Leanan Sidhe and a Lilim, and naturally found himself unable to attack, so he talked to the former and ended up getting her anklet. _I love that these demons are willing to start giving me their stuff…I wonder if I could get something more._

* * *

><p>Upon reaching the second floor of Mitra's palace, Crewman Horndog found a note that said "Take the long route." He wondered what that meant, but soon found out as his Demonica sensed a nearby forma. Just before reaching the forma, he dropped through a pit. Later, another such message appeared, and he quickly backed up and went around the long way. However, with Pele and Acheri having given their sources up, he supposed it was time to continue working on Moh Shuvuu. "Hey. You've been cold to me ever since I summoned you. Why won't you open up to me?"<p>

"Where to begin? You and I are of completely opposite viewpoints, and I've seen your idea of 'opening up'. You don't want me to open my heart to you, as long as I'm willing to open my dress."

"You seriously think that? I mean, yeah, you're kind of cute, but you still look like a kid. Now, I don't know how you demons age. For all I know, you could be older than me, or Kata over there could be younger than me. But you're still just a little girl."

"That's a load of crap. I'm older than Acheri, and you haven't had any qualms about screwing her. You might want to stop that, by the way; she's really fallen for you hard, and she'll probably be _heartbroken_ when she finds out that you don't see her as your soul mate."

"…Actually, that's not true. It _does_ make me uncomfortable, getting in bed with her. But it's so hard for me to just refuse her…"

"You're a horrible excuse for a man."

"You take that back!" Lilim shouted, but Horndog stopped her.

"Fair enough," he said.

"No, it isn't!" Lilim protested. "Randy, you're a great man!"

"…Everyone has their flaws. You just happen to find mine attractive. Moh's opinion is no less valid than yours."

"…Sweet-talk me all you want; my dress is staying on."

"…So untrusting. You'll never make any friends with that cynical attitude."

* * *

><p>On the third floor, things got weird. "We just reopened, and there's ALREADY another customerrrr! I've been so busy today, I can't show 'em aaaaaaaaaaall around!" Horndog couldn't help but look around for the source of the voice. The voice replied, "You don't have to do thaaaat! You look stuuuuuupid already! After all, I'm riiiiiiight here!" And Horndog was engulfed. "I'm gonna take yoooooooooooou! To a fun, fun plaaaaaace! Hyahahaaaa!" Horndog blacked out and woke up somewhere else. He found another prisoner. <em>Huh? That body shape…that's definitely a female in that Demonica!<em> He talked to the prisoner. _Oh. It's that cold bitch from the Elve. Well, at least my mission's been fulfilled._ Zelenin started preaching about how using demons was wrong and how no demon would seriously help a human. "Not interested in your stupid morals," Horndog replied. He went through a hidden door and was told that he shouldn't be in that room yet, and was sent back. He talked to Zelenin again, and that did nothing. Then he listened a bit closer to what was going on in the other room. _What the…_ "Are they experimenting on another human in there?" He burst back in; he was sent back. He talked to Zelenin again. He offered her the Demon Summoning Program in case of emergency, and she begrudgingly accepted, though she had no interest in using demons, saying she'd sooner die. Then the demons arrived. Horndog was brought before Master Mitra. He quickly tried to explore the room around him, but his captor kept him from going very far.

Somehow, though, his minor explorations attracted a crowd. He attempted to negotiate an alliance with the winged demoness Gu Huo Niao. "I think I understand human fashion pretty well…but I've never seen anything that looks like what you're wearing. What's it supposed to be?"

"The latest human fashion," Horndog snarked. She didn't buy it, but her anger didn't last long. "I might look girly, but actually, I'm really into weapons and stuff. Honestly, though, I'm so bored of swords and all that… a new weapon would be kinda cool… What would I look good with?"

"With your talents? You'd make a great sniper."

She disagreed. "That's so… what's the word I'm looking for… modest? I want a flashier weapon, with more BANG! for my buck." She left, and he tried to negotiate with another one. "Hey…you have a pretty good bod there. Come on and give me a closer look." Though suspicious, he obliged. "I knew it… I could tell, even through that suit. Those beautiful muscles… Every guy should be as buff as you." _Sweet. She totally digs me._ "Whoa, hold the phone. Since when were humans and demons able to talk to each other? What's going on here?"

"I'm not sure how it works, but I've got a device that allows me to understand and communicate with demons." She didn't seem to like the idea that it required technology, but gave him a Soma Drop anyway. "I, uh… hope we can talk again." (CCX: It was just as well that it was an auto-gift; Horndog's level was too low to actually recruit a Gu Huo Niao.) Horndog then proceeded to meet Mitra. Mitra looked rather feminine, but was obviously male. A Q&A session in which Mitra made disparaging remarks about humanity followed, and Horndog was given the Luxury Bell. A plan was devised, and the demons lured away in order to rescue Zelenin.

Upon reaching the door to her cell, though, the invisible force with the sing-song voice appeared again. He was placed in another cell, surrounded by dead crewman. As he examined each one, he was told what had been done to them. "When we cut into his chest, a viscous red liquid came flowing out and he stopped moving. Our conclusion is that humans need something called 'blood.' But when you think about it… he's been reborn into a form that can no longer grow impatient. We did a good thing! Look what a good thing we demons did!" _Are…are they really this naïve?_ "When we dug into his skull, some grey stuff poured out and he stopped moving. Our conclusion is that humans need something called a 'brain.'" "When we made him drink this stuff, green gunk splattered around and he stopped moving. Our conclusion is that humans have weak stomachs." "When we covered his mouth, his face turned blue and he started to struggle, but he stopped moving. Our conclusion is that humans need something called 'oxygen.'" Soon, a new experiment began, with Crewman Norris as the subject. Horndog watched, frozen by shock and fear, as Norris was stripped of his Demonica and was left silently screaming. He was then doused in "madman's blood", and turned into a monster. Horndog had no choice but to kill him. "Ooh, that felt good! Here, you can have this." Lilim gave Horndog a Mazio Stone as she leveled up. Something fell from Norris's body, and the invisible demon took it to Mitra, giving Horndog freedom to go investigate with Zelenin.

They searched for a new passage and instead found… "Another effeminate male demon," Horndog said.

"I didn't mean to alarm you. This is my true form. I am the angel Mastema. I am a herald of the kingdom of light. I came to this land after learning of the catastrophe underway in the world of man… However, my powers are limited in this land ruled by evil."

"…Is this another experiment? You're in league with the demons, aren't you?" Zelenin asked.

"Probably; this guy's only slightly more manly-looking than 'Master Mitra'."

"All your forms are the same from a human's perspective."

"I leave it to you as to whether or not to believe me. But whatever you think of me, I swear that I am an enemy to demons. If you have come to fight the demons, I would like to help."

"I'd like to believe you," Zelenin replied.

"I believe you," Horndog said, feeling Lilim and Acheri clinging to him in a manner more suggestive of fear than of their usual lust. The Angel and Moh Shuvuu seemed oddly emboldened by Mastema's presence.

"Perhaps you could tell us a few things? What's going on here? What should we do?"

"Once bitten, twice shy, is it? It is natural that you would be suspicious of me, Zelenin. What you should do is escape this place…" Mastema offered his assistance, and called upon holy power to be able to dig through the floor with his bare hands.

"…Yeah, I'm as frightened as you are," Horndog whispered to Lilim. They progressed, and Mastema gave them the Chiasto Mirror. As they were about to leave, they were attacked by a Macabre. It was surprisingly tough, and both Lilim and Leanan Sidhe went down once during the battle (Lilim first, getting revived by Leanan Sidhe's Recarm, and then when she herself went down, Pele picked her up. Moh Shuvuu was sent back to the stock when Lilim was revived, as she had been on death's door as well.) Unfortunate, he thought, as the amount of experience it gave might have gotten him Moh's source as well—as it did for Leanan. They returned to the ship, and the ship's AI, Arthur, told them that they needed to take down Mitra to get the sector's Rosetta. Jimenez, naturally, was all for it. Before long, Horndog was face to face with the invisible demon, which was revealed to be a Night Fomorian. It wasn't too hard to defeat, as it was weak against wind. Leanan gave him a Revival Bead after leveling up.

* * *

><p>"This place is crazy. So many pit floors and acid traps."<p>

"Didn't you reactivate the elevator? Because we just passed the elevator," Lilim pointed out.

"Later. That weird duck netioned something about a "Hariti". I'm curious as to what he was talking about. While waiting for the full moon to confront Hariti, he ended up getting another shot at Gu Huo Niao, and remembering what happened last time, he told this one that she'd look good with a sub-machine gun, which she agreed with. He talked to Hariti and received a request for a pomegranate, and the duck demon said that he might be able to get one from one of Hariti's friends on an upper floor. That out of the way, he proceeded to the fifth floor, only to find another, inoperational elevator. On the fourth floor, he and Jimenez heard a struggle, and Jimenez charged in, asking Horndog to back him up.

"That…is completely unnatural."

"Agreed. It's not even a real demon."

"Be quiet. Jimenez seems to have taken to it and vice versa."

Shortly after meeting the weird artificial demon, Horndog made it to the sixth floor and noticed that it looked different. "Must be getting close…the area near Mitra's chamber looked like this."

Before long, he spotted something he absolutely had to have: a strong and beautiful ally. "Let me make one thing perfectly clear: Our positions make us enemies. Oh, I didn't say I was unwilling to chat. Just keep our stance vis-à-vis one another in mind."

"Damnit, another of those."

"We don't need any more of them," Lilim said, but again Horndog shushed her.

"Well, then, a simple question…Whatever are you doing here? Oh… I suppose you've heard such a plain question from other demons already, haven't you? Are you tired of being asked that?"

"Not really."

"Oh, glad to hear it! Even if you're only being polite, it's the thought that counts. Please don't repeat this… but I think humans look smashing when they wield a firearm. Demons rarely bother with them, which makes them all the more intriguing to me… What sort of gun would suit me?"

"Ah…not this question again…" He turned to Gu Huo Niao. "You're a weapons enthusiast; what do you think?"

"She doesn't seem like the type who could handle a big gun. Go with a handgun." Horndog did, and the nymph agreed that that would probably look best in a woman's slender arms. "I'd use them gracefully, as if I were dancing in a ballet of death," she said. The negotiations went successfully.

"…Exactly why are we recruiting more weapons-loving demons with opposite ideologies from our own?" Lilim asked afterwards.

"I'm not comfortable with it either…but that was too powerful an ally to ignore." He tinkered around a bit and found that the nymph would also produce a good fusion with Hathor, and thus created a Tree Daphne before resummoning Nymph Apsaras.

* * *

><p>CCX: My first playthrough, my character was law-aligned…and a bit more loyal to his favorite demons. While out of "fairness", I went through the process of recruiting one normally (and as it so happened, was able to create another good demon by fusing one with one of the preexisting demons), the Apsaras I summoned from the Demon Data was at a <em>considerably<em> higher level than the freshly-recruited one. Of course, now with Gu Huo Niao, Daphne, and Apsaras, we're back to three demons whose sources have yet to be obtained…and while their alignments at least match each other's, not one of them matches Horndog's—which is a shame, because thanks to equipment carrying over to a New Game Plus, Horndog's far stronger than any of these demons are.


	4. Chapter 4: A Mall Problem

Crewman Horndog screws his way through the Schwartzwelt  
>by Cyberchao X<p>

Disclaimer: The _Shin Megami Tensei_ series is property of Atlus.

Chapter 4: A Mall Problem

The rest of the trip through Sector Bootes was relatively uneventful. Gu Huo Niao leveled up and also took on a new skill, Watchful, that allowed her to gain experience even when not in the party. This was fortunate for her, because she'd been lacking in skills as it was and as such no longer had any place in the party, and Horndog happily returned Lilim to her rightful place at his side. With space at a premium, the now-obsolete Katakirauwa and Angel were combined to form an equally obsolete Heqet. Many female demons were spared, although upon coming across a pair of Apsaras at the full moon, Horndog gleefully let Lilim loose to beat them up like she so desperately wanted to. Upon activating the elevator and finding Mitra's room, however…

"You're returning me to stock?" Lilim asked dejectedly.

"Just for this fight. Moh's Garula will be more useful here, and she can team with the other demons, hopefully get them lots of experience so I can get back to having you and Leanan in the party."

"Well…okay."

Mitra barely caused any trouble at all, with Daphne strengthening the party's defenses while Apsaras weakened Mitra's attack with Fang Breaker and Moh Shuvuu and Horndog wailing away on Mitra's weakness to wind with Garula and Storm Shot, respectively. The only one who actually leveled up was Horndog, although Daphne came close. "Nice work, everyone. Time to set out."

"I've got to say…you're awfully bold, fielding a party of lawful demons like that," Moh Shuvuu said.

"You were the best ones for the job. We absolutely kicked ass out there."

"Yeah, well…you're going to regret it some day, I'm sure."

* * *

><p>More fights ensued on board the ship—between Zelenin and Jimenez, and then between Jiminez and Arthur. The good news was that the Elve may have been found in the new sector, codenamed Carina. Before that, though, there was unfinished business in Bootes. After getting Daphne's source, he switched Lilim back into the party and went after the Fiend called…David. "Wait, 'David'? <em>That's<em> your name? That's not a very fiendish name."

David proved much more difficult than Mitra—Lilim got sent back into the stock at one point thanks to the Staredown's fear effect, and Moh Shuvuu actually got taken out—but in the end, Horndog managed to prevail over the skeletal violinist. He then entered Carina, fused together a High Pixie (resummoning Lilim, of course) and a Dzelarhons, and also doing some experimentation to get an Okiku-Mushi. It didn't take long to get a source from the latter, as well as from Heqet. He also ran into Mastema again. The angel asked if Horndog trusted him yet.

"You're definitely different from those demons," Horndog replied, since "trust" was not exactly the way he felt about the angel. Something about him just unnerved Horndog—probably the way his chaos-aligned demons seemed afraid of him. He talked to Lilim about it afterwards.

"Yeah, those angels really bother me. You've heard what that Mastema is saying about demons, right?"

"Well, my unit _was_ sent here to stop the threat that the Schwartzwelt was posing to our world…"

"But you don't _really_ want to do that, do you, Randy?"

"…I'm not sure. I don't really understand this place. The way they describe it, it sounds like the Schwarzwelt itself is alive, and I like my world too much to let it just take it over. But if the only way to stop it is to eradicate it completely…I don't really want that either. This place is nice too, and the demons here aren't really all that different from humans."

"Yeah. You humans aren't so bad. Those angels…I really want to knock them off their high horses. Corrupt them…" Lilim was licking her lips.

"You're still thinking about the lesser angels we met back in Antlia, aren't you?"

"All of them, actually. I know you'd be more than willing to help with the lowest of them, but the others…"

"It figures. All good girls want bad boys and bad girls want good boys."

"I want _you_, though…"

"…Now?"

"Sure."

* * *

><p>Lilim returned to the party after High Pixie leveled up, and Horndog brought Moh Shuvuu back into the party when Dzelarhons did as well. "Persistent, aren't you? Do you really want me that badly?"<p>

"Why would he want _your_ little mosquito bites when he's got _these_?" Lilim asked, thrusting out her chest, "Or these?"

Leanan Sidhe was surprised to find Lilim opening up her dress. "Stop that!" She blushed.

Horndog laughed. "Calm down, Lilim. Your position isn't in any danger."

"I know, but…you do seem to have an odd fondness for that little bird."

"She…amuses me. That attitude of hers…delightful."

Lilim thought about this for awhile. "…it's just a shame that that nymph is here as well." As usual, Apsaras wasn't even paying attention to these proceedings; when there wasn't anything to battle, Horndog and the majority of his demons might as well not even be there—though she had made friends with fellow weapons enthusiast Gu Huo Niao. "With another ally, I could fix her up…"

Horndog smiled. "I don't think that's necessary. Remember the battle with Macabre?"

"Remember the battle with David?" Moh Shuvuu shot back. "I'll admit, I'm grateful for the concern you displayed for me in that battle, but you're still far from earning my respect."

"…Fair enough."

* * *

><p>It was around the same time that Horndog first met Horkos, and not long after that, he recruited Nekomata—yet another munitions enthusiast. (They're everywhere.) He spoke to Mastema and found out that he needed a Megami and a Wilder; he resummoned Hathor and fused Nekomata with Okiku-Mushi to create Raiju. Mastema did some ritual that he said humans couldn't be allowed to see, and created the Shibboleth. Zelenin also received an angel for protection. Horndog then quickly leveled Moh Shuvuu up and fused Lilim to Dzelarhons, adding in the Dzelarhons' Source so that the resulting Yuki Jyorou would be resistant to Fire. He brought Yuki Jyorou and Nekomata into the party.<p>

"Hiya boss! You ready to use me to my fullest?" Nekomata asked excitedly.

"I'd…like that. You know, I bet you'd get along well with Apsaras over there. She's into weapons as well."

"Really? Okay!" The excitable cat-demon went over to engage the nymph in conversation, to minimal effect, while Horndog returned to the Red Sprite and got the Horkos Buster. In almost no time, Nekomata's source was obtained and Moh Shuvuu was back in the party. (This is all going somewhere, I promise.) They then fired the Horkos Buster, but Jimenez's overconfidence allowed Horkos to escape. Horkos then appeared in the room where Mastema had been, and Horndog and his crew followed quickly. Jimenez acted as a decoy while Zelenin provided cover fire and Horndog fired the Horkos Buster. Findite was obtained. In a rare show of graciousness towards his own gender, Horndog expressed willingness to allow a Karasu Tengu that had asked to be in his party join, but it turned out to be a trick anyway. With a little bit of teamwork, the lawful Apsaras and the chaotic Yuki Jyorou actually discovered that they made a good combo (though they needed to work on their timing), with Apsaras having the all-enemy effecting Lullaby which would set up for Yuki's Eternal Rest. In this same battle, Moh Shuvuu leveled up again…

"This is for you! It's like a present, since I'm a little more grown-up from getting a level." It was a Magaru Stone. _Oh, well, maybe next time,_ Horndog thought. They fought a "god of the toilets" and went back to work in Carina. They found Horkos again, and he escaped, but not very far at all. Success! The Elve was freed. Radio back to base…

_No way…_

* * *

><p>After the meeting with the heads of the joint project ended, a strange, beautiful girl appeared. "Ah, I apologize for the intrusion. My, my…this is a grand ship. Even the ark that withstood the flood couldn't compare."<p>

"Is that so? Well wanna stick around for awhile? I'm—"

"Hm…? Your name is known to them, Randy Horndog."

"Wait, how did you know my name? Who are 'they'?"

"I am Louisa Ferre. Please, call me Louisa."

Horndog considered the name. "…Didn't think I'd be meeting you this soon, Louisa. Or that you'd be female, though I suppose that would make for an ironic hell. W-well met, I guess."

"I suppose humans brought this danger on themselves, and are hastening to destruction… But I am only putting into words the destiny you've carried since you were created."

"So, these demons are your creation, are they? Nice work; I approve."

"There is no cause for concern. Yet you are still allowed a bit of power… Perhaps you may be able to control where the pendulum stops swinging."

"Right into a pit, I should hope."

"Where do you belong? A steadfast soldier of the law, or an agent of chaos?"

"Chaos."

"Hm…? It seems you have guests again. I had hoped to sit and talk with you longer, but I am left with little choice. Excuse me please."

"The last woman who looked like that said something similar when she left me. She was just a regular human, though." He sighed, summoning up Lilim. "I just had a discussion with a woman who called herself _Louisa Ferre_, who looked oddly like one of my human ex-girlfriends. Why would the devil appear before me in such a form, and…what's up with the demons leaving the Schwarzwelt and invading Earth?"

"Wait, they're actually doing that now? That was just theoretical…it wasn't thought to be a legitimate possibility!"

"You knew?"

"I'd heard that some of the more radical demons wanted to. Most of us thought it would be more trouble than it would be worth."

"Ah…speaking of things that might be more trouble than they're worth, I've been looking into Primes. You may go through some unpleasant intermediate stages…but if I'm not mistaken, you should never have to worry about your spot on my team after this." And he turned her into a Succubus.

"…I don't like it. Change me back." The other result of priming had been to turn Leanan Sidhe into Clotho; he combined his new Succubus and Clotho into a Hariti, then returned Lilim to her original state. "Ah, much better. I can't stand blondes."

"I can't really agree outright…but you're absolutely right; it was a horrible idea and you're much more beautiful just the way you are."

"Mmm…yeah, you know it…"

* * *

><p>The new party of Apsaras, Yuki Jyorou, and Hariti worked especially well, as Hariti had the same Lullaby skill as Apsaras. (CCX: No surprise there—I used a Hariti source to get the Apsaras with Lullaby, specifically to use as a setup for demons with Eternal Rest.) Horndog also recruited a Silky into the party. The high-level party ripped through Sector Carina, although when the party grew low on MP, Horndog successfully negotiated with a Halphas, earning a Bead. However, when it was time to take Horkos down once and for all, it was back to the old standby—Yuki Jyorou and Hariti out, and Lilim and Moh Shuvuu back in, in order to capitalize on weaknesses. (Admittedly, since the damage that he himself did on combination attacks was far greater than any of his demons', he would've probably been served just as well with the massively underleveled Pele as with the two lawful demons. Lilim and Moh Shuvuu both leveled up twice over as a result of the battle, with Horndog himself coming close. Moh Shuvuu's Dia became Shibaboo, and…"P-perhaps I was wrong about you. Here. It's what you want, right?"<p>

Horndog looked at the now-naked raptor. "Moh…"

"Just…be gentle with me, okay? It's my first time…"

"I promise I'll be a complete gentleman."

"Hey, I'm not asking you to be something you're not!"

"…Always the cynic, aren't you?"

"Just do it before I change my mind."

"Why do guys go crazy for that tsundere act?" Lilim asked, incensed.

"Feel free to…never mind." With most demons, he'd gladly try to make it a threesome or more, but he'd earned Moh's trust, and he didn't want to ruin that.

"So? We gonna do this?"

"I can't be out of my Demonica outside of the ship, remember? But once we get this delivered, there should be some downtime. I promise you, tonight will be your night and yours alone."

* * *

><p>CCX: About freaking time. It wasn't until after I'd finished writing that dialogue in Sector Bootes that I remembered that among the level-up rewards are the assist forma associated with that demon…and that Moh Shuvuu is one of the ones whose associated forma is clothing, specifically her dress. (Apsaras is another, by the way, although given how long it'll take to get even one level-up for this overleveled demon, we won't be extending that one this long.)<p>

* * *

><p>After his tryst with Moh Shuvuu, Crewman Horndog talked to Jimenez about Louisa Ferre. Jimenez didn't seem to think that she existed. Then Jimenez brought Bugaboo back out, earning another lecture from Zelenin. "I suppose it's a good thing she doesn't know what I do with <em>my<em> demon companions," Horndog said after Zelenin had left.

"Yeah, that's…a little weird," Jimenez said.

"Hey, we both treat the demons as though they're no different from humans, right?"

"…Yeah. Good point, Randy."


	5. Chapter 5: Down In The Dumps

Crewman Horndog screws his way through the Schwartzwelt  
>by Cyberchao X<p>

Disclaimer: The _Shin Megami Tensei_ series is property of Atlus.

Chapter 5: Down In The Dumps

Upon arriving in Sector Delphinus, things only got weirder, as Commander Gore's body disappeared. Horndog then asked Dent about anything he could do, and met a kindred soul in Crewman Anthony, albeit a bit more of a romantic than the carnal Horndog. He went off to deliver the message to a Leanan Sidhe. He picked up some other missions while he was in Sector Bootes, then reported back and found that Anthony had already fallen in love again. He said that it was an "adorable girl with wings" who "looks somewhat 'young'". "Sounds like it could be one of your kin, Moh," Horndog said after he left.

"Are all of your kind this perverted? Hitting on little girls."

"I seem to remember you willingly taking your clothes off for me," Horndog replied, "And maybe you're just too cute to resist?" He started running his fingers through her hair.

"Ah, er, I…" Moh Shuvuu started blushing furiously, and Horndog took full advantage of her hesitation, loosening her dress and nipping at her sternum. She squealed and turned even redder. "Randy…okay, let's go."

"Gotta train some of the others. Hariti and Apsaras are still taking awhile, and I've got to work with Silky a bit as well. You'll have to go on standby."

"Aw…you really are a heartbreaker, you know that?"

Alas, Moh Shuvuus were hard to come by. Once Silky leveled up, Horndog left Carina and went to Antlia, successfully fulfilling the requirements for moving up the simulator from Morax to Mitra and bringing Silky to the Fairy Village. He then fused Nekomata with Gu Huo Niao to create Yoma Dis, then fused her with Pele to make a Haunt Churel (using a Nekomata source to add another offensive skill). It was…not terribly sentient in spite of its obviously female body. A disappointment, but still worth training.

He soon got a distress call from Zelenin. "Yeah, sure, I'll be right there," he said, secretly hoping the demons would get to her before he arrived—not necessarily that they actually succeeded in killing her, but at least forcing her to get over her aversion to using the DSP. He eventually ended up rescuing the cold scientist, and discovered a possible connection to Sector Bootes, whereupon he again ran into the creepy androgynous herald. He also fused together a Wood Skogsra, then while investigating Bootes, a Katakirauwa talked its way into the party; Horndog fused it with Yuki Jyorou for a Holy Pabilsag, then fused this with Heqet to make a Prime (Gnome), resummoned Yuki, fused her with the Gnome to make a Lachesis, and resummoned her again. Later another Gu Huo Niao joined, so he summoned an Angel to fuse her with; disappointed with the resulting Suparna and noticing that fusing it to a Femme would produce a Megami but unwilling to part with Lachesis or Yuki Jyorou (even though he could resummon them), he talked another Leanan Sidhe into joining him and fused her with Suparna to create Fortuna, given Moh's source to create a wind specialist (Wind Boost ability with three wind-based skills: Wind Breath, Garula, and Magaru.) Also, just as he was finishing his pursuit of Skogsra's source, he confirmed that the somewhat androgynous Mandrake was indeed female, so he summoned another Prime and fused it with Skogsra to create Mandrake. Mandrake was quickly leveled up upon first encountering the mysterious demon, so he switched her and Fortuna out for Hariti and Lachesis, a configuration he figured would probably stand for awhile as the trio were all overleveled compared to himself. The mysterious demon then addressed him and Zelenin by name. Zelenin fired the MK Gun at it with no effect, which Arthur later explained to be because the MK Gun targets receptors in the human brain and has no effect on the parasite itself. He then told her that she'd need to use the DSP. A third encounter brought no lecture, but the demon seemed pleased after the battle ended. Horndog continued forward and found…Commander Gore? However, it was clearly not the same commander Gore. While the Gore Horndog had (briefly) known was a human and therefore dependent on the Demonica to survive in this environment, the figure standing before him now wore a tuxedo.

"You are…Horndog. This body is telling me that. Who… are you?" So, it was Gore's body, but not his mind. "…Are you speaking to the one who once inhabited this body?" the Gore-thing asked. "He is dead… No, reborn… Yes, reborn. I have become all." _Except for pupils,_ Horndog thought, looking at this new Gore's all-white eyes. "My consciousness is one with this planet's…I have become the one who decides the fate of mankind."

"Wow. That sounds important."

"The Earth is being destroyed at the hands of humans. You despoil the earth, grow in numbers, and leave poison behind. Humans have become a disease."

"You sound like the demons."

"To cure itself of this disease, the world birthed this holy land."

"Definitely a demon."

"The human disease will be expunged by the demon antibodies. It is the only way for the Earth to survive." (And yet, in the final chapter, deciding to side with the demons makes him attack you.) Meta-Gore approached Horndog. "If you had the proper spirit, you would be able to feel the human karma that permeates this land."

"I can sense it in other ways. Like my common sense."

"Joy in slaughter… addiction to desire…" Horndog cringed and looked guiltily at the ground, "Infinite consumption and excretion beyond salvation… A destiny of destruction is in mankind's character."

"You make a strangely compelling argument for the eradication of humanity. But I _like_ these demons, and I ain't letting them take me out."

"The man who inhabited this body would have lamented that fact…Do you not want to revert the tide…?" Gore started to attack, but said that although the "mother" was telling him to, he didn't feel that Horndog was that bad. Then he said something about a comet moving and disappeared.

"What…was that?"

* * *

><p>Horndog continued onward and met up with Crewman McClane, who told him that there was an infected crewman up ahead. He discovered a trio of paranoid crewmen, but none were affected by the MK Gun. Then McClane showed up and turned out to be the infected one. Horndog defeated him and moved on into some darkened paths, then found a rare forma. Irving turned it into a Visualizer, so Horndog went to Sector Carina to tie up some loose ends, but soon got extremely disoriented and forgot which region he was even in. He decided to take a rest and go back to work the next day. Upon returning to Delphinus, he recruited an Ame no Uzume, though he soon grew tired of her and fused her with Fortuna to create Mayahuel. He also fused Lilim again, this time with Hariti, bringing about Femme Clotho. He resummoned Lilim, but his new party was Yuki Jyorou, Clotho, and Lachesis—a triple-dose of Femme which Lilim made light of. As Horndog stumbled through the darkness—even with the Visualizer, the lack of automapping and the numerous conveyor belts made the dark passages challenging to navigate—Yuki leveled up and attempted to change a skill. Horndog checked what would be changing.<p>

"Nope, not this time. I can't have you exposing your weakness."

"Oh…so it was out of concern?"

"Yeah. Protecting you from fire is very important."

Later, Lachesis leveled up, and Horndog switched Lilim back in. She was starting to fall behind on levels and needed to be healed after every battle, but she still proved amazingly useful. Later, she leveled up.

"You want to change _what_ skill? Sweetie, your Mazio has been a godsend against these pesky Camazotz…es. That's your most useful skill! Well, your most useful combat skill, anyway." They both laughed knowingly at that.

"Well, whatever I can do to serve."

* * *

><p>An encounter with a White Rider allowed Clotho to level up twice at once, though no others were on the field when the Rider went down. Horndog continued through the maze and found the mysterious demon again. It taunted Zelenin, saying that the crew of the Elve saw her with lustful eyes. "Seriously?" Lilim asked.<p>

"Lust doesn't take personality into account, I guess," Horndog said. "No, actually, I'm sure that righteous attitude does appeal to some." They fought it, and Lilim leveled up again, giving Horndog yet another Mazio Stone—he was building up quite the collection. Another encounter, and the demon disappeared, saying it would show its true form. Before he could find that form, though, a Beast Hsing-Hsing asked to join the party. Horndog decided to let it come along on the condition that he'd immediately fuse it to something else, but nothing on the fusion chart immediately caught his eye. A closer look, however…he fused it to Lachesis to create a Holy Airavata. Then he resummoned Hariti and Succubus, along with an Incubus (one had briefly been in his possession as an intermediary step when he upgraded Lilim to Succubus via the Primes).

And, using Yuki Jyorou's source to give it Eternal Rest to go with the Lullaby it would inherit from Hariti, special fused together Night Maya.

* * *

><p>CCX: Looks like even when limiting himself to those that he can either recruit or fuse together, Horndog has still managed to sequence break, getting all of the fusion material needed for the Sector Grus boss before even reaching Eridanus. Oops. Okay, so the bit where he got Succubus was kind of cheap, but still, fair and square.<p> 


	6. Chapter 6: The Human Connection

Crewman Horndog screws his way through the Schwartzwelt  
>by Cyberchao X<p>

Disclaimer: The _Shin Megami Tensei_ series is property of Atlus.

Chapter 6: The Human Connection

Horndog soon found the enemy, the Tyrant Asura, and listened to some stuff about the human spirit having once been beautiful, but losing that upon the dawn of civilization. He couldn't really say it with Zelenin around, but Horndog actually agreed with this. Then Horndog managed to get owned by his own attacks bouncing off of the tyrant. Take two…he switched to a gun that was more suitable. He found himself hit by Asura Roga, but it didn't matter because his first rage hit actually landed on Asura, dealing massive damage, and his second landed on Maya, who was tough enough to tank it. There was no third—Maya's Megidolas and the one hit that Horndog had landed sent Asura packing before that could happen. Ballgame.

* * *

><p>The crew found their way to Sector Eridanus, but before entering, Horndog returned to Sector Carina to pick up a Hawthorn Spear from the dwarven blacksmith and to continue searching for Anthony's Moh Shuvuu. He found it, and then he returned to the ship and went to the lab. He was…pleasantly surprised with what he found available for manufacture. Thanks to the two Victor's Bows he picked up from White Riders in Delphinus, the Ebony Tear was available, and he found it to be worth its high price tag. He then returned to Delphinus to give the Hawthorn Spear to Kresnik, and then went to Antlia so that he and Maya could take on the simulator. "You show…promise, Randy Horndog," Maya said. After a couple of run-throughs (he found that he could get through Ouroboros without trouble before having to struggle with Tiamat, and therefore stopped after Ouroboros on future attempts), he headed out to Sector Eridanus…only to find a god named Thoth who sent him on a mission back to Antlia. Due to the low levels of the enemies found in Antlia, he decided to summon up some low-level demons. He found that the Prime created when fusing two Megamis was actually quite visibly female, and so he summoned a couple of other neutral demons to accompany her, the Vermin Okiku-Mushi and the Fairy High Pixie. (Also on the subject of fairies, he evicted Lorelei from the wreckage of the Blue Jet.) He reported back to Thoth, and was directed to Sector Bootes for the second part of the quest. He also realized that he had yet to find the Pomegranate that the Hariti in Mitra's palace had desired, and so he searched for that while he was there as well. He managed to find a hidden room, but there didn't seem to be anything of note in there—he somewhat expected to find Hariti's friend that Hamsa had mentioned, as he had said that she liked to hide. But no, nothing at all. And here he thought Bootes was one of the more <em>straightforward <em>sectors. He then realized that the demon he was searching for for Thoth's riddle actually dwelled on lower floors than he'd been searching, and immediately found it upon making his adjustment. Riddle #3 seemed out of his reach for the moment, so he instead began his pursuit of the Vanishing Point in earnest. At this point, he found that the services of High Pixie and Okiku-Mushi were no longer necessary, and also that by fusing the latter with Mandrake, he'd be able to pick up that Spirit Inferno he'd coveted in Carina, while fusing the former with Apsaras (whose "overwhelming power" was no longer so overwhelming—far lower than Horndog's own level) would give him the third Megami, Parvati (Pele's source added Recarm and Recovery Boost while taking away a superfluous Media, as she already had Mediarama naturally; Megido, Lullaby, and Me Patra rounded out the skill set). Immediately upon encountering a foe, he found another female he desired, but the Drake Bai Suzhen rebuffed his advances. _Guess I'll have to fuse for that one._ He soon found himself frustrated, though; Eridanus was a literal hedge maze. Undine leveled up the first time at the same time that Inferno leveled up for the second time, but then he remembered that it was Parvati, not Inferno, that he wanted to fuse Undine with once he was done with them. He settled for summoning Maya and Yuki Jyorou back into the party—since Parvati had inherited Lullaby from Apsaras, Yuki and Maya (who had Lullaby herself) would be able to dominate yet again.

Unexpected teleporter. _What?_ "Wait…this place looks familiar. I've been here before…"

"You have?" Lilim asked.

"I think so…no, maybe not. It kind of reminds me of where I met those three weird guys…"

"What three weird guys?"

"I have no idea. I think it might have been a dream, but it didn't seem like it at the time…"

"You're scaring me, Randy."

* * *

><p>"So, why'd you want to talk to me?"<p>

"Because you're cute."

"Huh? Really? Am I really that cute? Heeheehee! You're a good judge of girls!" The snake continued, "From a human's point of view, demons are creatures that came from another world, right? How do humans think of us?"

"Uh…there's really no one answer to that. Some humans think of you as enemies, while others think of you as friends. Isn't it the same for demons?" Apparently it wasn't, resulting in a violent failure to negotiate. So disappointing…Soon, Yuki wanted to change her Dormina skill, and since most of the time he paired her with a demon that could knock out _multiple_ demons via Lullaby, he let her do so. It became Magaru. Rather unexpectedly, he also obtained a new Yuki Jyorou Source. Shortly thereafter, Parvati leveled up, and he used Undine to upgrade her to Scathach. Then Arthur sent out a message about a crewman's radio acting up, a large magnetic disturbance…"Something bad," Horndog concluded. Upon ascending a staircase, Horndog found himself…right back in the dark, with his Visualizer powerless to help. "What the fuck?" However, despite the darkness, he was able to make out the voluptuous figure of Vouivre, and decided to take another shot at adding her to his harem. She asked him to come closer, and he did. Then he asked him how he liked the human world. "It is what it is, I guess." Wrong answer. He tried talking to the other one, who asked him what he was doing here. He said he was lost, which was technically perfectly true at the moment. Right answer. She took pity on him and _immediately_ joined up, no negotiations necessary. _Not exactly what I had in mind, but it gets the job done._ He looked at his fusion chart. _Huh, there's a Drake in there…I _could_ just fuse it as is and then summon up a Prime to rank it down, but it might be less expensive to just summon a lower-level member of the appropriate class._ While it indeed would be, he saw a certain benefit to doing things the more convoluted way, and did so, resummoning both Vouivre and Yuki Jyorou afterward. He got through the blackness and got a radio from Jimenez, saying that the next area was a bitch too because of "floor traps". "Not pitfalls, I assume…we're already on the first floor. He took one step before getting hailed by Zelenin, who wanted him to look at what "looks like" some sort of device. Straight ahead, she said, so of course he detoured to the side and found another connection to the white zone. He also got a mission from an Ame no Uzume, searching for the goddess Amaterasu. He then continued on to Zelenin's position, and it did indeed appear to possibly be some sort of device. It wasn't long before he found a rare forma. Horndog then discovered what Jimenez meant about floor traps, but luckily, there's an app for that. Bai Suzhen was the only one who even occasionally got affected by the poison and sleep tiles. A Spriggan asked to join, so he joined it with Yuki to create Sedna. Another maze, this one full of secret doors…but Horndog couldn't help but wonder how long it would be before he'd need to return to the Red Sprite to have Irving turn the Goetite into a new main app. He was surprised to find a plane shifter available to him right now, but when continuing to explore, he found a hidden door that seemed to lead to no particular room—barely anything behind it at all. "Might lead to something in the shifted plane, though," Scathach suggested, and Horndog agreed. He managed to find a new passageway, but before he'd even finished exploring the upper floor, he'd found his way back down, and soon had a pair of shortcuts—one leading back to the device, and another leading to the White Room. Since the White Room was so close to the entrance, he decided not to put off delivering the rare forma any longer. It became Forma Search B. He also reported in to Anthony, whose reaction to the Moh Shuvuu's words was quite hilarious. He then got another mission from Anthony… "I don't get why Anthony doesn't seem to care too much for me. It seems like we have similar tastes in women." After what seemed like entirely too long, he found a Yuki Jyorou in Sector Delphinus. Her reaction was…oddly nostalgic. Then hostile. "I can't help but wonder what he said to offend her so much."

Anthony seemed to realize what a loser he was, and asked Horndog's opinion. "Well…" He soon had another mission. This time, he'd seen the demon in his dreams, and she…did things to him. Further descriptors included black hair, a white outfit, a typical barbed demon tail…

"You haven't been screwing around with Anthony's head, have you? I know he's kind of pathetic, but…"

"Hey, when we Lilim enter people's dreams, that's not just mind tricks. That's bona fide sex. So, no, it wasn't me. Shouldn't take too long to find, though, right?"

It took…longer than expected, as usual. She said that he was so weak, his soul nearly came off his body when she stole a little of his spirit—she felt so sorry for him that she gave half back. "Not a real man like you," Horndog's own Lilim said.

Anthony realized the same implication, and gave a truly golden line: "In the daytime, I misfire my gun dealing with demons, and at night, I misfire my other gun dealing with another demon? Is that how it's gotta be?" He didn't back down, though, showing real determination. Soon enough, he was at it again, this time wanting to _apologize_ to a demon who didn't attack him and actually blessed his gun. It turns out he'd gotten scared when he saw that her back was covered in bark. "Maybe Skogsra?" Lilim suggested. As Horndog tried to remember what part of Sector Delphinus Skogsra tended to reside in, he witnessed another battle between Kudlak and Kresnik, and he couldn't help wondering which one would win out in the end. During the search, Lilim leveled up again, turning Shibaboo into Marin Karin, and then a Yoma Dis talked her way into the party. Horndog trained her to get her source and then fused her with Bai Suzhen (resummoning the latter afterwards) to get Vermin Arachne. Amazingly, the power of Anthony's pathetic love life even allowed Horndog to cut through the power of the _full moon_ to have a normal conversation. She seemed oddly understanding, and said that he was better than the rest because he at least had the guts to admit his weakness. When Horndog returned to Anthony for a sixth time, he was still thinking about Skogsra's reaction, and said he heard rumors of a deity who can teach guys how to "gain the love of all women," and furthermore, it's a goddess. All he'd heard, though, was that she rides a camel. "Any ideas?" Horndog asked his demons.

"Nope," Lilim said.

"You're not there yet," Moh Shuvuu said, grinning.

"You know what it is?" Horndog asked.

"Yes, in fact, you've seen her before…but I don't think you've seen her in battle yet." Horndog opened up his fusion chart. "Yeah, now you've got it…but of course, fusing one up doesn't help you, and I don't think you could go through with that fusion anyway."

"You're right. I can't. Still, at least I know what I should be on the lookout for."

"You're not going to find it in Eridanus!" Moh Shuvuu taunted.

"Yeah, that machine in Antlia gave me the feeling that Eridanus won't be the end of this. That's it, then? We're really going to be stuck here?"

"There are…a couple more sectors. That I know of. I don't know what to call them, since your computer gives out designations. But this _is_ where the Vanishing Point seems to be, so maybe you won't have to go to the 'F' and 'G' sectors?"

"Don't be so optimistic. I highly doubt it."

"That _was_ pessimism. If you leave now, I'm gonna miss you."

"Really?"

Moh Shuvuu blushed. "Yes, really." Horndog grabbed the little raptor and held her close to him.

"Hate to interrupt your little 'moment', but we should really get going. Actually, I don't hate it at all," Lilim added, as she and Moh glared daggers at each other. He set off, saw Arachne level up, then almost immediately found other Arachnes—but not before finding a rare forma that had eluded him prior to upgrading his Forma Search. He tested out the Asteria Stone in the device, and was warped to the White Zone—but a new part of the White Zone. He saw another teleporter, online, but…a ghoul stepped in the way, with orders to let none pass. Even after trying to force his way past, he couldn't. Moving on, another passage to the original White Room appeared, along with a new staircase. "Too close…this can't be this easy," he said, finding that the stairs led up to a third floor that sincerely gave the impression that there was no fourth floor. He met Kazfiel in a side room, who offered him a test. _Hmm, combined magic power under 60…I could just overwhelm it by bringing Maya and no other demons, but I'm still training Scathach. Inferno and Moh Shuvuu's magic is low enough…_ Bingo. Thanks in large part to his own Moan Bullet, Scathach leveled up once, Inferno twice (Agilao becoming Counter), and Moh Shuvuu twice. With Scathach leveled up, he fused her with Yoma Dis to create Nymph Sarasvati. Unfortunately, the trial that came next would not allow him to train her, as all demons with recovery and resurrection skills were taboo. This also meant no using it as an easy way to train Lilim some more. Moh Shuvuu, on the other hand…because, of course, this would be even easier. Maya had no such skills. Sedna would round out the party.

No good. "Wait, what? …Energy Drain, seriously?" He supposed he'd have to go with an all-around strong party, and moved Moh Shuvuu out as well, putting Vouivre and Arachne in their places. Luckily, he was a pushover. It turned out, there was a higher level, labeled "TOP" on the elevator. A strong signal was near…the neutral duo was removed, replaced with Maya and Sarasvati.

* * *

><p>"See? I <em>have<em> been here before!"

"What? How have you suddenly come to that conclusion?" Lilim asked, confused.

"There's a room on my automap that seems to connect to an outer passage that I haven't been through yet. I was taken here before!"

"That…is indeed very strange."

"Far too many areas remain out of reach…" So close, and yet…something's wrong! Arthur ordered the crew back to the ship. Very strange…

"A large ship in Sector Carina?" Horndog explored the sector for a bit and discovered the last of the Black Boxes he needed, a door he couldn't open, a mission to find Cu Chulainn, and…the Lightning? A prototype of the Red Sprite that was bought by a private corporation, rather than being another government ship… There, he and Jimenez met Captain Jack. He seemed to know a lot…too much. His motives for coming to the Schwarzwelt were purely mercenary, searching for items that can provide profits. They wanted us to find a Hydro Apple, an X Metal, and an Ice-10. The three forma were thought to be in Sector Eridanus, and…of course. _He_ was the one who had put that demon up to guarding that teleporter, and it would be taken care of, of course. "Why do I suspect that this won't be so easy?"


	7. Chapter 7: Snake in the Grass

Crewman Horndog screws his way through the Schwartzwelt  
>by Cyberchao X<p>

Disclaimer: The _Shin Megami Tensei_ series is property of Atlus.

Chapter 7: Snake in the Grass

A quick look into Cu Chulainn's last known location, Sector Bootes, redirected him to Sector Antlia, where he again used the simulator to help level up Sarasvati. Morax, of course, could be defeated in a single turn by regular attacks, but Mitra managed to put the Strain status on Maya before going down…and even with Sarasvati's Amrita, it didn't get cured until the Ouroboros battle because Moan Bullet was working at maximum efficiency and Maya and Horndog were finishing off both Horkos _and_ Asura before Sarasvati even had a chance to move. The Ouroboros battle moved so quickly that Horndog decided to chance Tiamat again. An unfortunate and uncomfortable truth arose—not only was Tiamat far too powerful to be easily handled, she also absorbed Ice (the element that all three of his demons used) and had Luster Candy. A huge boost—both Sarasvati (who hadn't leveled up even once through the Ouroboros fight) and Horndog leveled up three times, and Maya leveled up and changed Mabufula into Dekunda. Bai Suzhen, with the Watchful ability, also leveled up. Somehow, against all odds, Horndog had been approved for another battle. He nervously accepted, and found that his opponent would be none other than Maya. It went…rather badly, starting with the merciful fact that he needed to summon a new demon as Sedna had gone down the previous battle, sparing _him_ from the insta-kill effect that hit his Maya when she used an attack skill. He later recovered to make the battle semi-respectable, until suddenly Evil Vortex turned him to stone. Uh…let's not do that again. Luckily, it was a non-issue. Although the next attempt ended prematurely when Horndog underestimated his ability to defeat Horkos quickly without having to resort to Moan Bullet or multiple uses of Megidolaon and he went over the turn limit, he then managed a successful defeat of Tiamat, without even losing Sedna this time, that nonetheless took _twelve _turns, which was over the prescribed limit (the previous had ended in 8). This time, Maya didn't change a skill, but Sarasvati did, changing her Samarecarm—which Horndog let go because it wouldn't matter, right? Wrong…maybe. It became Mediarahan, a very good skill in its own right, and then it was time to fuse her with Vouivre to create Wood Alraune. Oddly enough, Vouivre's source had a number of skills that Vouivre herself didn't, and he used this source for a skillset of Frolic/Watchful/Mediarahan/Agidyne/Ziodyne/Maragion. Sweet.

While continuing to search for Cu Chulainn, an Archangel asked to be included in the party. Since it was at such a low level as to be unable to contribute anything meaningful in fusion, he summoned an Angel and fused together a Prime…only to discover that it, too, was meaningless, as the only things he had that it would upgrade rather than downgrade were the Night tribe—and Lilim was at such a high level that an "upgrade" would _be_ a serious downgrade, while Maya was…Maya. Too high a level to be upgraded in any meaningful way. He deleted it and found Cu Chulainn's master, a Scathach. He got another lead, but on his way back, he found himself regretting the deletion of the Prime, as he was surprised to find that the lowest-level Raptor, Itsumade, was also female (albeit of the "old lady" personality type.) He resummoned it, fused it with Moh Shuvuu, then resummoned Moh Shuvuu. One battle in Eridanus gave Itsumade multiple level-ups, so he deleted her and put Lilim back in the party. An attempt to talk his way out of a battle with a Vouivre was waylaid by the fact that he no longer had one of his own, but his smooth tongue managed to net him a Soma Drop from the deal, no negotiation necessary.

Flight Toufei asked to join, and another fusion brought another powerful ally, Fury Kartikeya, into the party. Horndog managed to navigate the teleporter maze with relatively little trouble. (CCX: No, I didn't use a map this time. Having done it before probably helped a bit, but this was all about memory and concentration.) The next region was filled with numerous pitfalls, and after numerous attempts, he managed to sway Fairy Vivian over to his side. As for the pitfalls…

"Are you _trying_ to fall into these pits?" Lilim asked.

"Well, actually…yes. I'm determined to map out this entire area, pitfalls included. Knowledge is power."

"You're crazy."

"Maybe so."

He finished both missions, obtaining the forma and reporting back to Cu Chulainn's mother in Carina. The upgraded Gate Search obtained, he explored a bit of Eridanus, including finishing the second stages of each trial, before going for the boss. Having fought Ouroboros many times on the simulator, he found the battle to be quite easy, but then the Gore-thing showed up and stopped them from going through the Vanishing Point, and Ouroboros revived. Horndog was still wondering what this "Mother" thing was all about. Ouroboros would be a pushover, but if it could keep reviving…it wasn't worth the effort. Better to try to take down its power source, then it would be an easy kill.

* * *

><p>"I am the infant. The child. The shape of the beginning… Perhaps you've forgotten. To send energy to Ouroboros is my never-ending purpose in life. Are you trying to take my purpose from me? I won't let you! You'll be ripped to shreds first!" What followed was a very easy fight against what appeared to be stronger-than-usual Mandrakes. Soon after, another battle against a glowing demon ensued.<p>

"I am the skull. The one who knows the end. The end itself. But I have become one with Ouroboros and now live eternally. Are you trying to sever the flow of energy? I will not allow it. You will soon learn the limits of the flesh!" Yeah, definitely stronger than usual.

Soon he came upon the room that had already been automapped. He found a forma inside, and Yggdrasil stood there quietly. Not long after, an unfamiliar demon greeted him as though they'd met before…and then introduced itself…themselves, as the Disir that he had saved back in Sector Bootes. This was their true form—Norn, goddess of time. They commented on how much stronger he'd gotten…and they revealed that the one who had saved him back in that hopeless fight was none other than himself, sent back through time by Norn. They did so, and he stepped in to save his past self. Yggdrasil was not much stronger than the enemies he'd been facing, though he had more HP. Norn said that if ever he needed her, Horndog need only use the technology of humans to call her. "That…was bizarre," he said, trying to comprehend how such a time loop even worked.

Next came a Dzelarhons, which introduced itself: "I am the frog. The animal burned for eternity, creating infinite power."

"Your metaphors are getting more and more nonsensical," Horndog interjected.

"My purifying flame becomes Ouroboros's energy! Those who interfere with Ouroboros…shall burn!"

"FROGS DON'T BURN." Barely even more powerful than a regular one. A Gui Xian asked into the party, but much to Horndog's dismay, it didn't provide any good fusion combinations. He fused Vivian and Toufei to create another one of those androgynous angels, Dominion (after which he _still_ had no idea if it was male or female), and decided to settle for fusing the Gui Xian, which had a useful ability, with Vouivre to create a new Prime, Flaemis. It gave the same greeting to him that the Dominion had, at which point he decided that none of the angels, not even the sexy-looking lowest order of them, had any gender at all. Nothing in his party at the moment would have promoted via Flaemis, though, so he settled for leaving it in there.

"I am the dragon. That power that gives birth to life. The great Ouroboros is she who gives me this energy!" So that confirmed it; Ouroboros _was_ female. "So long as we send Ouroboros our energy, she is invincible! I will not fall to you!" This was the final one. Another room held a Dantalian who sought knowledge, who asked him to map three sectors. The first task: Map the first floor of Sector Bootes.

"Okay…" The first floor of Sector Bootes was covered in damaging floors. Nearby was a forma…"A Sword Shard? These are pretty rare…" With still a fair share of leveling-up he wanted to do before taking on Ouroboros, though, there was no reason not to go for it; Alraune's Mediarahan made it fairly manageable. Returning to Eridanus led to Flaemis leveling up quickly…too quickly, in fact, to get the source. The other two sectors were ones he'd already explored; Carina's second floor and Delphinus's third. Horndog received the reward, and the information that Dantalian would pay for other explorations. He set off to map the fifth floor of Sector Delphinus…although he had another goal in mind. On the way back to the ship, he was pleased to find that another Vouivre was willing to join him. "…wait a minute, the fifth floor of Delphinus is covered in dark passageways!" Well, okay, that couldn't have been too much of an issue because so was the third. Well, little to do but summon Mandrake back and start making more room…after Alraune leveled up, he fused her with Dominion to create a Raptor Anzu; when this turned out to be a roaring beast, he used Flaemis to downgrade it to Gurr, which was likewise male (it was so hard to tell with the less human-looking ones). He deleted it and continued his search. Ah, there it was…but of course, Horndog's negotiation skills with males were somewhat lacking. Usually it wouldn't be necessary, but there was a particular demon that he sought for fusion purposes. On the second try, he successfully negotiated with Jirae Kwancha. Then it was time to summon back Lady Dzelarhons and Drake Basilisk (CCX: Remember how he went about getting a Bai Suzhen!), slap the four demons that had served as guardians onto the base of a female snake such as Vouivre…hmm, fire resistance was right there in the formula, and with fire normally being Ouroboros's weakness. Slap on the Sarasvati source, which voided Ice, and he'd have a demon that was at least resistant to everything except wind attacks, with ice being voided and electricity drained. Gave her Samarecarm, too. "Wonder how she'll react when she sees herself…"

"No… My children… The torus of eternity is severed…!"

"Geez, stop being such a drama queen. 'Torus of eternity'?"

"I cannot fall at the hands of humans!"

Ouroboros seemed tougher this time, though Moan Bullet was still effective. He tried to use this as an opportunity to power-level Lilim, but an attack called Wave of Death finished her off. With the enemy almost finished, he decided to summon Moh Shuvuu instead while having his own Ouroboros revive Lilim…and seeing as how Moh was weak against Wild Lightning, it was. Lilim got the experience and two levels, almost a third. Marin Karin became Mabufu.

"Ahh…! The holy realm… of the gods… cannot be defiled… by humans… No… Humans cannot… pass here… …"

Horndog got a Klein Bottle and a Formless Mass, and the Gore-thing reappeared. "Argh! Mother! You…! You've been defeated! You can't die… What am I to do with you gone…?"

"Okay, seriously? I don't know what you are, but that thing _cannot_ have given birth to you."

"Am… Am I supposed to defeat the humans…? Or…is the fate of the world beginning to change…? I don't know… Even with the knowledge you gave me… I don't know…"

"So dramatic. You guys use more ellipses than most fanfiction writers."

"What are you talking about?" Lilim asked.

"Never mind."

"What… What am I supposed to be looking for…?"

Horndog was just about to make another snarky comment when the Gore-thing disappeared. "Guess Commander… no, Gore, was under Ouroboros's control," Jimenez radioed in. "Now that his puppet master's gone, he's as imposing as a weak kitten. Poor guy might just have to rot here in the Schwarzwelt…"

"Well, now, I wouldn't go that far, Jimenez…"

"He was clearly hostile, but…in the end, he never attacked us," added Tyler. "Was it the Commander deep down inside of him that stopped Gore from going all the way…?"

"Stopped from going all the way? How tragic…oh, right. That," Lilim said. And with that, it was time to go. Horndog put all of his demons back in the DSP, just to put everyone at ease, though he planned on smuggling some of them out when he got back to Earth. At the very least, Lilim and Moh Shuvuu…no, that'd never do; those two didn't get along at all. Just Lilim, then…it'd just be the two of them. Of course, a demon in society wouldn't be well-received, so she'd have to stay at home while he did all the heavy lifting…

…wait, was he actually starting to think of his favorite demon like a _wife?_

The alarms snapped him out of it. Something was stopping their progress. "Moh was right…"

"To think they believe that they can return to the Earth… Absurd."

_Damnit, I know these three! Last time I met them, I was all alone…but that was a dream, right? And Lilim's right at home in dreams…_

"_This is no dream you're in,"_ Maya psychically whispered to him. Horndog wasn't sure what to do; clearly, the three men would see if he summoned one of his demons, but he didn't really want to be separated from them at such a time…

"In the end, humans have proved themselves to be little more than apes."

"And Apes riding in an iron vessel cannot control the providence of the universe."

"Jimenez…!"

"What?" Horndog said, surprised that his comrade's name had been spoken.

"Zelenin…!"

"Wrong again," Horndog said, and he couldn't help but smile now.

"Horndog…!"

"Bingo."

"Why did your 'Mother' not grant you wings at your birth?"

"It was to prevent you from becoming arrogant, and believing that you rule the world from on high."

"The wisdom of humans? The power of science? What did you hope to accomplish with these…?"

"**You will learn your boundaries."**

"What is this? What's going on…?" Horndog hadn't even noticed that Zelenin and Jimenez were, in fact, there as well. "We're being sucked in…! Horndog… Horndog!" Jimenez then seemed to confirm that this was, in fact, in their minds…all three of their minds, at once.

The three men showed them a vision, of the operation to destroy the Schwarzwelt failing, then told them that if they could gather all of the Exotic Matter that the Mothers carry, the path may open.

"I hate this place."


	8. Chapter 8: Inner Demons

Crewman Horndog screws his way through the Schwartzwelt  
>by Cyberchao X<p>

Disclaimer: The _Shin Megami Tensei_ series is property of Atlus.

Chapter 8: Inner Demons

The Red Sprite crash-landed in a new sector, named Fornax, and the radio was smashed. Arthur was initially off-line, but came back with new data given to him by none other than the three mysterious figures, revealing that the Exotic Matters would unlock the path and also that a being called Mem Aleph was waiting in the center of the Schwarzwelt.

"Mem Aleph, huh…so there's another region beyond the two others we expected."

"Yeah…is it wrong for me to be happy that you couldn't escape? I'm sorry you couldn't accomplish your goal, but…I'm happy to have more time to be with you," Lilim said.

"I…wasn't about to let them take you away from me. When it looked like we were going to escape, I found myself thinking about you…about us. I'd go back to working a civilian job, and you'd be there waiting for me when I got home every day. Just the two of us, together…" Horndog found it hard to directly face her. Inside his Demonica, the only way he could show any emotion would be through his visor…and he was somewhat embarrassed.

"R-Randy…"

Horndog explored Fornax and found himself unable to recruit a Reaper Hel, and then he discovered Futotama and got the Tamashiro Mirror. Before she'd even gotten to use it once, Lilim's Mabufu became Tarukaja, and a later level-up turned it into Rakukaja. Then Horndog's Demonica detected a strong demon. Suddenly, Morax busted through a wall and revealed his true form to be Moloch, Tyrant of Flames. Horndog defeated him and continued onwards, and heard the voices of the other three Rosetta demons demanding revenge against him as he entered a room with three doors. Then he was pushed back, and Louisa Ferre reappeared with exposition. Fornax, apparently, was not like other regions, and the Rosetta Demons could maintain their true forms here under the power of Tiamat, the region's ruling demon. Nearby, a Demon Search revealed a Kinmamon, which reminded Horndog that he had the Tamashiro Mirror now. He defeated the Kinmamon and returned to Eridanus. Sure enough, the Kinmamon-like thing that was hiding behind the hidden door turned out to be Amaterasu. She explained that she had been drawn to the Schwarzwelt by a strange force and that she felt as though she herself were part of the "mothers". Ame no Uzume gave him the Sound Jewel, which he took to Irving. He was surprised to find that it turned into a Main App, Gate Search E. He bought up all of the new Sub Apps that were available and now had Green Grass and MP Regen II equipped. He went to Sector Antlia to try out his new Gate Search, but the door that he opened with it held nothing of interest—well, aside from the fact that the normal Antlia monsters intermingled with those native to Eridanus within the small room. He checked in with High Pixie and gave her Spriggan and Vivian.

Back in Fornax, he explored the door on the right, and soon ran into a Lachesis. He was unable to win over this one, but seeing that this was her home, he summoned both her and Clotho. He then found that Green Grass made demons ask to join his party _very_ frequently. He wasn't able to come up with any good fusions, although Manticore was at least vaguely female-looking (like Churel, however, it wasn't even sentient enough to speak.) A Jirae Tlaltechutli managed to stick around, and he found Horkos—or rather, Orcus. The difference was quite striking; gone was Horkos's bizarrely Italian accent. Orcus was…actually respectable. Horndog won, and suddenly Arthur flagged them back to the ship. Jack's Squad had created their own space-time location, somehow, and this was deemed a threat.

Indeed, they _were_ quite threatening, and downright hostile when Horndog and Jimenez attempted to enter their headquarters. Jimenez offered to stay behind to keep an eye on them, and Horndog continued on. He took the Moon Mirror he'd found near Orcus to Irving, but found that it wasn't useful on its own.

Next up was the left door. In that area, there was…a little girl? Yes, a small girl called Alice. She was chasing a rabbit—a Hare of Inaba, as it were. Horndog was tasked with chasing it down. He tried a number of different paths, and the first two attempts failed. Each time, Alice suddenly appeared before him when his time was up. "Definitely something creepy about that girl…" On the third attempt, however, he had something more pressing than the bunny to worry about. "A terminal…and a heal spot, too. Something big is lurking here." Damn right it was. He had found the Sun Mirror after the terminal, but before the heal spot, and while he found nothing but dead ends when he continued further, heading back towards the terminal led to Mitra, aka Mithras, bursting through another wall. "What are these walls made of, anyway?" It was easy enough to battle these demons, though, as he already knew their weaknesses. Kartikeya leveled up after the battle, and…it turned out to be another androgynous male. A disappointment, _but_ it meant that there was no reason not to use it in a fusion. Finally, the demon he'd seen previewed many times would be his: the Lady, Black Maria. He fused Clotho, rather than Lachesis, with Kartikeya. He then ran into another Clotho and ended up charming an item out of her before summoning a new one. Although he had been called back to the Red Sprite again, it wasn't as urgent, so there was still time for him to continue searching for the rabbit. He cornered it, and Alice revealed herself as a demon and attacked. Horndog defeated her, then received a Hexagram and a Bead Chain from Hare of Inaba. He set to obtaining an Alice of his own.

"Hey hey hey! There's only room for one loli in this party!" Moh Shuvuu complained.

"What's a loli?" Alice asked.

"You know, the girl who still has a young body but manages to be just as sexy as the big girls using her swagger and self-confidence."

"You're not sexy," Lilim interjected. "And I'm still a growing girl as well."

"Is that so? And here I thought you were just flat."

"I'm bustier than you are, chicken-wings!"

"But I'm much younger than you are. I have more room to grow."

"…Are they always like this?"

"Yes," Horndog said.

"I don't think I like them very much."

Also on the way back, that "wait, that's a woman?" factor struck yet again, this time with Wood Zaccoum. Horndog wished he'd known before, as Zaccoum had shown up as a fusion possibility many times before. He returned to the Schwarzwelt and found that Jimenez had gotten himself captured after he charged in when he discovered that Jack's Squad was pulling a reverse Mitra and experimenting on demons…and as a result of Jimenez's rashness, they were now considering using humans in their experiments as well. "That idiot…" He first took the Sun Mirror and Moon Mirror over to Irving, but he and Chen _still_ couldn't make anything out of them. "Huh, thought that would've been enough…I guess it needs a third piece. Well, take a look at this." He gave Irving the Hexagram. Irving and Chen turned it into Forma Search C. "Interesting…"

Immediately, Horndog had to confront Jack's Squad. They weren't pushovers. Soon, he found a Piercing Stone, which he immediately brought back to the lab. It became…"Sweet, an upgrade to the Visualizer!" He also moved Zaccoum out of the main party, though he wouldn't delete it immediately because having Fornax natives in his party would be useful while it remained his main area of research. Seeing as how Tlaltecuhtli was also a native of Fornax, though, there was little he could do to free up space. He deleted Inferno from his roster. Moh Shuvuu, back in the party and scowling at Alice, leveled up again, and then Louisa Ferre appeared. She told Horndog that his strange friend was close to meeting his fate. Horndog supposed she meant Jimenez, but…she said that Horndog should be there to see it transpire, as his friend. Was "meeting his fate" _not_ a euphemism for dying?

Bingo. Soon he came upon a dark passage, which his improved Visualizer visualized. He found a door that he probably would've missed in the dark. "This was a good decision," he said of the decision to immediately head back to the ship with the Piercing Stone. He found the passcode to the underground lab and busted in, and found that they were…trying to fuse Jimenez with Bugaboo? The member of Jack's Squad mentioned that "you'd figure it would work with a human and demon whose souls are on the same wavelength…" Well, hard to argue that; Bugaboo and Jimenez had a great bond. Jimenez cursed them out. Finally, they noticed Horndog and…ran away, but not before switching on the experimental machine. Horndog tried to stop it, but Jimenez told him not to, because if he did, Bugaboo would die. Jimenez begged Horndog to use the Demon Fusion Program to save Bugaboo. He wanted to be sent to the Demonica…

What resulted looked…very much like both of them. He'd always thought Bugaboo looked a little like Jimenez, but this was remarkable. Now, the ensuing battle would likely be fierce, so he put Moh Shuvuu back in the Demonica and brought Ouroboros back out. Maya would be less useful in this battle because of her weakness to guns. Jimenez broke into the Lightning. Literally—he just punched his way in. Jack set demons on him, then attacked Horndog, accompanied by a pair of Pisacas that for some reason were classified as Jakis rather than Spirits. They were pesky, the Pisacas inflicting Bomb status and Jack having an annoying attack called Rain Strike (although it bounced right off of Alice at one point), but Ouroboros's Acid Breath and Horndog's Moan Bullet made quick work of them. Jimenez then killed Jack. He then vowed to kill every last one of them, but second-in-command Ryan surrendered. That nearly didn't stop him…but Zelenin intervened. "Better than they deserve," Horndog muttered. Among the spoils of war was a Star Mirror. Finally, it would be time to upgrade the Demonica. It was…Enemy Search B? Well, whatever. He went to the Sickbay, healed up, and chatted up the doctors. Zoe seemed interested in studying the newly demonified Jimenez, and it was all Horndog could do to keep from making a lewd comment about wanting to examine her body.

The new Enemy Search revealed a Hanuman, who was tougher, but still not too tough. He descended, found another place with a terminal and a heal spot, and found an invisible demon similar to the forms that Asura had taken prior to revealing its true form. Which, as it turns out, wasn't really its true form. As soon as he descended another staircase, Asura himself appeared, and revealed his true form to be…female. Horndog defeated her and continued on. He saw some more familiar faces, such as Alraune, and then he found a forma… "Femme Shears? Hmm…didn't Thoth say something about scissors?" Damn right he did; Horndog soon found Atropos and got the next of Thoth's volumes. He continued on, had a Da Peng ask to join (he had no use for it), and found a plane shifter. Just before he got to Tiamat, he found all three of the Moirae together. This would be his chance to win over Atropos…and failed. "Hmm…maybe try just one more time…" No good; the next encounter wasn't with an Atropos. Horndog summoned Maya into Alice's spot in the party. An all-out offensive, bolstered by Black Maria's Ziodyne, made quick work of the Mother. Black Maria and Ouroboros leveled up, and back in the Demonica, so did the Watchful Bai Suzhen, who turned Bufula into Explosive Fist.

Gorething returned, though his emo fit was considerably shorter than last time. Horndog reluctantly returned to the ship. The planeshift went smoothly, and they arrived in Sector Grus, which looked a lot like Sector Antlia, only frozen instead of burning. However, analysis said that it was a mosaic of environments, and that it would not look the same throughout. _"No surprise there, seeing as how it's Maya's region,"_ Horndog thought. Arthur also suggested that they may be able to destroy the Schwarzwelt itself if they were to destroy Mem Aleph. Horndog checked out the new Sub Apps and returned to Eridanus to report in. The next riddle seemed to point back to Antlia. He engaged a Melchom in conversation, and was a little surprised that he wasn't immediately given the book, but Thoth's parting words stuck with him, and he decided to give it a shot. The first negotiation didn't go well enough. The second…went too well, as Melchom joined up immediately. The third attacked him as soon as he spoke to it. After a fourth failure, he returned to Fornax. He found an Atropos as soon as he entered its home zone…which, unfortunately, was during a full moon. Lilim changed Rakukaja into Ice Breath. Horndog couldn't help but notice that it was the same slot changing each time. Then an Enemy Search… Horndog's eyes went wide.

Black Rider.


	9. Chapter 9: Jack Shit

Crewman Horndog screws his way through the Schwartzwelt  
>by Cyberchao X<p>

Disclaimer: The _Shin Megami Tensei_ series is property of Atlus.

Chapter 9: Jack Shit

Horndog started by summoning stronger demons, giving Maya and Black Maria the nod over Lilim and Moh Shuvuu. Then, it was a string of items—Dekaja Stone to counter Luster Candy, Amrita Shower to counter Dry Sea, another Dekaja Stone, and finally the opportunity arose to use Moan Bullet. Both he and Alice leveled up, and Alice's useless Resist Ice (she also had a _Void_ Ice, after all), turned into…something equally superfluous, Recarm (she also had Samarecarm). He continued on, and a battle against three Taoties gave a good guide of just how strong Lilim had grown—she just _barely_ managed to survive an attack from one. Finally, he found an Atropos and won her over. He headed to Grus.

Almost immediately upon arrival, he found a plane shifter, but it was being guarded by a Dominion working under Mastema. "It figures." He continued into another area that looked vaguely reminiscent of Bootes, but different. The enemies here were actually quite challenging, and for the first time, he found himself using an incense. Then he found a hidden door that apparently was unlocked by his Gate Search E, which seemed to indicate that what was lurking in here would be special. It was…a slight disappointment.

An Ammut tried to join up, but at the moment, his party was full anyway. The same happened with an Oberon. Then he found another hidden door, and this hid a Cornucopia. He brought it back and turned it into Unlock E, and then he went to explore yet more of Antlia. A Gryphon and a Girimehkala awaited, and the latter asked to join. Again, no room…yet. Another Melchom appeared, but it gave him another item before he had a chance to begin negotiations. After picking up some rare forma, he finally got the book from Melchom. The next riddle would be the final one…but it made no sense to Horndog. Back to Grus.

* * *

><p>"You know, looking at some of your choices for long-time members, I can't help but wonder if you're one of those 'little girl lovers'," Lilim teased.<p>

"That's ridiculous. You're my favorite; you know that."

"Yeah, well, I'm pretty young myself…and I've got the most mature body out of your apparent favorites."

"I could just be choosing flatter girls so that you don't feel insecure about your body."

"That's bullshit."

"Yes it is, but so what?"

"What are you guys talking about?" Alice asked.

"Ah…nothing important."

"…I get the feeling you guys don't like having me around."

"That's not true. You're a great addition to the team."

"Am I really? I can't help but notice that this group is filled with pretty girls, and I'm just…"

"You're plenty beautiful!" Lilim said. "A regular flower."

"I don't know…I don't have the healthy glow that you have."

"That pale look? Guys love that. You're a rare beauty."

"…What about girls?"

"…"

"…Forget I said anything."

"…I'd rather remember," she said with a grin. "Randy, you don't mind, do you?"

"As long as I can watch, go for it." (CCX: In case you've forgotten, Lilim was established as being bisexual way back in Chapter 4.)

"Good. Now then, I've never done this with someone so young…I'm not sure if I should go all out."

"Funny," Alice said, "I was thinking the same thing." That shy attitude was gone all of a sudden.

"Huh? Wait, what happened to the innocent little girl?"

"Well, it's easier to just play up the little girl attitude, because, well…look at me."

"You mean you aren't _actually_ a little girl?"

"Metaphysically, yeah, I am. But I've been a little girl for probably over three times your lifetime."

Horndog took another look at his data and found that Alice was some sort of spirit, possibly even a ghost. He also remembered what the Hare of Inaba had said, that their chase had played out numerous times over the years. Now he was even more anxious to see what she could teach his precious Lilim. Already she'd kicked off her shoes, and the blue velvet dress and white silk stockings soon followed. Lilim was so excited by the prospect that she seemed to have trouble properly removing what little she wore; as it appeared she'd end up clawing it apart, Horndog helped her out of it, though he couldn't help but whisper to her, "I thought you didn't like blondes."

"Nope, just succubi. They're our natural rivals." Horndog filed that knowledge away and watched as the frail-looking ghost and the vivacious demoness went at it. Lilim tried to engage in foreplay, but everything seemed unresponsive. "Geez, are these little things just decorative?"

"Unfortunately, yes. I have…very few sensitive spots. Ah, you, on the other hand…" she enthusiastically sucked on the demon girl's nipples, causing her to moan.

"'Very few', huh? So there's still something I can do?"

"Yes."

Lilim began to explore every bit of Alice's body. Nothing responded, although Lilim barely even cared, because she was so enthralled by that pale-skinned beauty. Still, this was a matter of pride…and besides, this girl was such a good lover, and Lilim had _never_ come first in her life.

Alice wrapped her legs around Lilim's back, teasing her bottom with her feet. "Mmm…you're getting warmer," she said.

"You don't mean…"

"I do. Come on…stick it in there."

"You'll regret saying that!" Lilim slipped free of Alice's grasp and stuck her tail deep into the ghost girl's slit, teasing at it.

"Ah, there you go…oh…it's been years since I've been able to enjoy this with another girl. So lonely…"

"Can we keep her?" Lilim asked, relishing the alabaster girl's tremors.

"So much for your complaints," Horndog replied. "Sure thing."

* * *

><p>CCX: Yeah, I felt I wasn't really using that M rating to its fullest capacity.<p>

?: You really _can't_ do a non-yuri lemon, can you?

CCX: What the hell are you doing here?

?: Oh, come on, the whole "using both author characters" thing got old awhile ago, when it became too easy for readers to confuse with there actually being two authors. So now you get a good old-fashioned muse.

CCX: Yes, but your chapters _still haven't been published._ I can't actually reveal you as my "muse" yet, because as of the last published chapter, you're not a main character.

?: Yeah, you really need to do something about that. So, wait, if you can't reveal me…ah, I see. I'm credited under a group of question marks, aren't I?

CCX: Well, the formatting on this site reduces it to a single question mark, but yeah.

* * *

><p>Horndog and crew soon ran into Mastema, who became even scarier. His words suggested that his view of humans was even more dangerous than that which Asura had shown back in Delphinus. Whereas Asura decried the notion of "order" and believed that the human soul was more beautiful when the strong ruled over the weak because of their strength, Mastema seemed to be decrying the idea of free will. Suddenly, it was back to the Red Sprite, and another check in on Jack's crew. Apparently Ryan was just as ruthless as Jack, but a much bigger asshole. Jimenez busted out and said, basically, "I told you so." Horndog agreed wholeheartedly—Ryan deserved to die. Everyone on the crew agreed…except for Zelenin. Jimenez wanted an answer, how she planned to resolve this without violence. Zelenin decided to turn toward the method that Mastema had described, to reach the hearts of man in a pure manner. Arthur gave her authorization to go ahead with it.<p>

Atropos leveled up, and then it was time to summon Norn. He then resummoned Atropos and fused her with Lilim, creating Lady Diana, before of course resummoning Lilim. Xiuhtecuhtli briefly joined up, but was immediately fused to create a new Drake, which was also useless and was deleted. After some rough patches, he found an oddly agreeable Valkyrie, one who forgave him _two_ missteps in conversation. He refueled from the negotiation with a Strength Incense…or two, but eh, whatever. He found a strange door being guarded by a stranger crewman, and then Mastema, who was unsettlingly sympathetic to Zelenin's plight. Mastema told her that the hymn of an angel could guide the hearts of men. Mastema then admitted that his own voice no longer holds that power. "Not surprising…you're just as suspicious as any human," Horndog said.

"Don't you mean…"

"I know what I said."

Mastema went on to say that the same is true of the other angels here; however, he has the power to turn men into angels.

"And why would they be any more receptive to the songs of _those_ angels?"

Mastema continued that the angelification process is not for all. Naturally, Zelenin wanted to become one. All according to Mastema's evil plan, Horndog thought. They returned to the Red Sprite, and the crew was overwhelmed by the Zelevinity. Jimenez naturally called her out on her holier-than-thou attitude, even though for once, she actually _was_ holy. Her very voice irritated Jimenez and hurt his head, which made sense. They pacified Ryan and crew, and freed the captive demons. The group's leader, a Jaki Grendel, said that he would take them to a new portion of the world of illusion, saying he knew the Mother of that region, Maya of the Night. He returned to the ship and learned that they needed a new app to get into the Sanctum, Phase Shift B. Jimenez could get in freely due to his demonic form, but…

First order of business, though, was to return to other regions with phase shifters and explore the other B-spaces. He was surprised to find that the one on Carina's second floor held a door that he still couldn't unlock. In Eridanus, he found himself stuck in another teleporter maze, and ended up meeting Odin and bringing him a Sleipnir, as well as attracting a new Arachne. A new Alraune joined up in Fornax, but it was overall a fairly uneventful treasure grab. Back to Grus, and he soon found himself face to face with Succubi, just as expected. He ended up charming a Soma out of one before recruiting another. He fused it with the Lady Diana to create a Femme Dakini. Much to Lilim's dismay, however, he then summoned another one up. What ensued was yet another teleporter maze.

Finally, he found Grendel. Grendel agreed to release the seal on the door to Maya if Horndog killed Jack's Squad. Jimenez stopped him on his way and offered his opinion—naturally, he was all for it. He returned to the entrance to Grus and was confronted by Zelenin, fighting one of Maya's illusions. She offered to sing at the demons instead to weaken them. The crew met, and decided that it was better to get rid of Jack's Squad once and for all. It was all too enjoyable, and both he and Succubus leveled up.

It was quickly becoming apparent that his favorite demons were no longer viable as they were currently constructed—their attacks were too weak. Horndog forged a Saki Mitama to use on Lilim, using Vivian's source to give her new skills, then summoned a Dis, fused it with Valkyrie to create a Prime Aeros, then summoned a Prime Aquans to fuse with it to create a Nigi Mitama, which he fused with Moh Shuvuu using Alraune's source.

…Oops.

(CCX: Incidentally, I had a fusion accident involving a Mitama in my first playthrough, too. I reloaded and tried again.)

At the door, Horndog met the Gorething again, only this time, he looked more like the old Commander Gore. It turned out to be one of Maya's illusions, and Horndog managed to snap out of it...and snap Gore out of it. Gore was still this new thing—"the ubergestalt", he called it—but his mind was that of Gore. Horndog carried on.

The new region looked like Delphinus, right down to the conveyor belts, but there were still plenty of teleporters, just like Eridanus. A lower area was more reminiscent of Bootes—complete with a maze of one-way doors like the David zone—and Horndog brought Titania and Oberon on board, then found that he had the tools to fuse more fiends. He'd vowed to only use women, but...it was hard to resist the temptation to go out and grab the Riders after seeing their power in action. He fused Oberon with Black Maria to garner Black Rider, then recruited Nymph Peri. "That's probably what I was looking for in Bootes," he thought. He came back up in an area that looked like Carina, and found some locked doors he couldn't open. He also found a new rare forma, which he eventually returned to the ship. Not surprisingly, it turned into a new Unlock feature. He also reported back to Anthony before setting out, as he found Fallen Gemori near the rare forma. Anthony had met with Gemori, and hadn't even realized it was her. Anthony then asked Horndog to hook him up with someone when they get out of this mess.

"…Yeah, I don't think so. What do you think, Lilim?"

"Nope. He's too pathetic." Horndog set back out...

And ran smack dab into another Rider. It took out a number of his demons, but he ended up prevailing (losing two Sacrifices to its Mamudoon) with a team of Dakini, Black Rider, and Norn. Norn leveled up. He looked around to see if it could unlock the door he found in the original space—it couldn't—and then headed back to the area where he'd seen the doors in the area that looked like Carina. Soon, he was just outside Maya's door. Since his only demon with a Gun-based regular attack was Moh Shuvuu, his weakest demon, he instead brought his three strongest overall demons, Maya, Dakini, and Black Rider. Since only damaging skills would activate the enemy Maya's insta-kill ability, he had Black Rider use Debilitate to weaken the enemy, while using items as necessary as this team lacked healing skills and debuffing skills. It didn't seem like a huge struggle...until Evil Vortex struck.

"Randy? Randy? Damnit, Randy, why'd you have to insist on giving me 'more useful' skills? Somebody, help!"

* * *

><p>CCX: Yeah, it's an instant game over when your main character gets turned to stone. If anything, that makes Petradi probably less useful in battle than the other status ailment-healing skills. Not that it would've made a difference in game because none of the demons that were on the field would've been able to do a thing about it, but it was just an interesting little thing. When I game-overed against Maya on the sim, there would've been a viable in-story justification for Horndog turning back, because he actually had a demon with Petradi, namely his beloved Lilim. But that skill had been getting <em>zero<em> usage, so naturally it was one I got rid of when I upgraded her abilities. Funny how that works out, isn't it?


	10. Chapter 10: Grus Miscalculations

Crewman Horndog screws his way through the Schwartzwelt  
>by Cyberchao X<p>

Disclaimer: The _Shin Megami Tensei_ series is property of Atlus.

Chapter 10: Grus Miscalculations

The second attempt to kill Maya fared no better, and again his demons had to drag Horndog back to the ship. "We're going to have to do something about this," he said, and went to the lab. He found a new sword available to him thanks to the Pale Rider he'd killed, but it was out of his price range. He bought a Supple Ring and set out, and this time he decided to explore a bit more of Grus since he'd actually left a lot of it unexplored. Before that could happen, though, he had to go right back to heal up almost as soon as he'd set out—another Pale Rider was waiting for him just into the region. Dakini leveled up.

On the third attempt at taking down Maya, he managed to prevail. Much to his surprise, Evil Vortex, which again came out when Maya's health was low, didn't turn anyone to stone at all—both times that he'd been turned to stone, Dakini had been as well.

He returned to the Red Sprite, but as they were preparing to set off, Arthur shut down. The three mysterious figures overrode him and showed the crew images of a "perfect" world—one much like the one Mastema seemed to be dreaming of, a calm world. A _boring_ world. An "unblinking" world, in the words of the woman who interrupted the trio's speech—one Louisa Ferre. She spoke of a world much like the one Asura had described, complete with similar language about polishing souls and whatnot. After the speeches, Zelenin and Jimenez came before the crew. Zelenin had been inspired by the three men's words, and decided to wander the Schwarzwelt trying to save mankind. "Okay, sure, whatever. Go play Neo-Jesus. It's not my problem." Jimenez then said that he thought that the world that Louisa had described sounded nice. A free world where "if you die, it's your own fault". The Schwarzwelt was better for him, he said, living among the demons. "Living among the demons…" It sounded awfully tempting. Both of them ended up attracting some of the crew to follow them. The Red Sprite left Grus with a diminished crew. Gore then contacted them, though they couldn't trace his signal. He seemed to be back to his old self, indeed.

The first order of business for Horndog was to deliver Titania and Oberon to Sector Antlia. After that, he went to Sector Grus to investigate the door in the angels' sanctum where he'd met the suspicious crewmember. What he found was…an even more ridiculous maze. Luckily, he didn't have much training he needed to do, so he was able to carry the likes of Maya on his active team as he explored. Luckily, there wasn't quite _as_ much memorization involved, as the majority of the teleporters did indeed result in progress. It was the pitfalls you had to watch out for. Needing an occasional break from the battles, he summoned a new Succubus to the reserves…and compensated by summoning Lilim to the active team, where she'd get plenty of experience.

"…Really? A Phase Shifter in the middle of a maze of one-way doors?"

"This place is crazy," everyone agreed. Maya just shrugged. Eventually Horndog got fed up and equipped his Red Carpet Sub App. Finally, he found the proper path, and he prepared for the battle that would likely ensue by returning Lilim to the reserves and bringing back Black Rider—the team he'd used against Maya.

Alilat didn't really have that many strong attacks…and then suddenly, it did a Concentrate/Megidolaon combo that knocked out the entire party. "Hmm…I wonder if Almighty damage can be reflected by a Magic Mirror…"

Apparently not. For the third attempt, he equipped the Dragon Ring and vowed to have his demons defend for that turn. Still no good, and only Maya even managed to survive. He decided to go back to the Red Sprite. He then headed back out to rerecruit a Titania, since Macca reserves were running low. Then it was time to fuse it with Norn to add Pale Rider to the fold. Kartikeya's source took away the increasingly useless Eternal Rest and added a Gun Amp, Charge, and Heaven's Bow. The only killing skill he'd need would be Mamudoon. "Excellent." He added it to the party, taking Alice along as well since she too was a Fiend.

He next headed to Eridanus, but the conditions on the next trial were that only demons with HP less than 300 could fight. Even Lilim was too powerful for such a trial…he looked through his list of demons.

"Heh. It's certainly been awhile, Randy."

"Yeah, sorry about that, Yuki. Things just got a bit crazy, you know?"

"Whatever. As long as you want me now."

Yuki Jyorou, Moh Shuvuu, and Bai Suzhen. This would be the party he'd bring against the third deva, Jikokuten. Not that it was a huge issue, because Moan Bullet. The third trial on the other side required a party with an average level below 45. With Horndog's own level being 64, his demon's levels would have to average under 39. Horndog was glad he had summoned Yuki—while the three lowest-level demons in his party (Lilim, Bai Suzhen, and Moh Shuvuu) would've been sufficient, by including Yuki Jyorou, he was able to bring Alice along. Lilim, whose level was the highest of the aforementioned trio, was even able to be the third, bringing the total level to exactly 180. The battle with Kazfiel and Aniel was tough, and Yuki ended up going down against Kazfiel's boosted Hades Blast. All three members of the party that survived leveled up, and Lilim was ready to change a skill.

"_Luster Candy?_ That's one of the better skills out there…but then again, it's not like skills get _worse_ when they change, generally speaking…eh, no. Sorry, can't let you do that."

Unfortunately, the final trial back on the devas' side required a total level of _150_ or less. Now at level 65, he could only use demons whose combined levels were 85…so either a single demon, or perhaps two of his lower-leveled demons. Such a strong foe, though, he couldn't bear the idea of sending Lilim up against something like that. "Fine. Pale Rider, time to show me what you've got."

"With pleasure."

The battle was quite anticlimactic. Horndog fired off a Moan Bullet while Pale Rider used Charge; the Gun Amped, Charged rider then fired off a Heaven's Bow while Horndog fired another Moan Bullet. Bishamonten only managed to get off one regular attack, since both Horndog and Pale Rider were quicker, and the battle was over. "I feel as though Lilim and the others would've been fine through that…but no matter. Let's see what this new weapon is like…hmm, much like my gun, it can hit multiple foes, but lacks raw power…definitely worth consideration, but not quite good enough to get rid of the raw power that this blade confers." (CCX: This is something he must consider beforehand, as the weapon he's been carrying requires a Neutral alignment to equip and so he wouldn't be able to equip it again if he unequipped it.)

Finally, it was time to go to Sector Horologium. Horndog expected that there would be new demons worth acquiring there, so he cleared out Yuki Jyorou, Succubus, and Peri.

Something felt strange here. There was a very straightforward path to an elevator which led to a basement nine floors down, and then there were no enemies on that floor…too suspicious. Gore stood before the door, and said that Mem Aleph was there. But how…

Of course. Her true form was not yet visible to Horndog. Gore said that what he saw might not be it, either, but that it was too dangerous to loiter there.

Gore and Horndog returned to the Red Sprite, and Gore restarted Arthur. Crewman Tyler called Gore a zombie, and the commander said that this was half-right and that medically speaking, his body would be considered deceased. He then showed that his commander's heart was still there and displayed his memories…as well as knowledge of the future. That the young daughter that Tyler doted on would grow up to be a teacher just like her mother if the Earth were to be saved, or that within two years, Maebe's perseverance at caring for her sick father would be rewarded and a cure for his disease would be found. Gore started to ask Horndog a question, but then he stopped. "…But I can see there's no need to ask. The demons have already devoured your soul, and all that remains is a body yearning for freedom."

"Devoured my soul? I'm not like Jimenez. Not quite, anyway. Although I agree with his basic worldview. The demons…they're not so different from us humans. I think we can get along just fine."

"Yesssss…you tell him." Was that Pale Rider speaking, or Black Rider?

"I must use all of my strength to defeat you."

"We won't let you." The other rider. Horndog was glad to have them on his side.

"You are a demon wearing the uniform of the investigative team… I cannot allow a world where humans turn into demons!"

"That won't be necessary," Alice said.

Suddenly the nature of his team dawned on Randy Horndog. Three fiends. Three _fiends_. Two of them weren't even remotely female in appearance—but they were two of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, among the most powerful of demons…

As the ubergestalt moved to attack him, he silently wondered: What had he become?

* * *

><p>CCX: Never when I thought to put the roleplaying back into roleplaying games did I expect it to come out so smoothly. Though there have been times when I've had trouble remembering to put Randy's name down instead of my own, I ended up finding myself diving straight in…and gradually, Randy became more and more chaotic, power-hungry, caring only about having strong demons. Perhaps if my Macca reserves weren't so low, I'd even have him summon back the demon that I'd eventually ended up using as fusion material to create Kartikeya…but this is quite interesting in its own right.<p> 


	11. Chapter 11: Cruisin' Demonica

Crewman Horndog screws his way through the Schwartzwelt  
>by Cyberchao X<p>

Disclaimer: The Shin Megami Tensei series is property of Atlus.

Chapter 11: Cruisin' Demonica

It honestly took Horndog awhile to even notice that both gun and physical attacks were being reflected, because he pretty much used Moan Bullet for every boss he faced these days. Both Riders had to be Samarecarmed at one point in the battle due to the reflected damage. The upside was that Gore also occasionally got hit with reflected damage, as Alice reflected gun damage and Gore had the same Rain Strike as Jack had. Furthermore, he was weak against Wind, which was Pale Rider's element. It wasn't exactly a swift process, but defeating Gore was not a huge problem.

"How tragic…mankind's last hope… has been devoured by demons… At this rate… the Earth… mankind itself… will disappear… …"

"This is Arthur speaking. A fatal error has arisen in the personality matrix. A fatal error has aris… At this rate, all functions of the Red Sprite will be unrecoverable.ꔀ쀆됇됀耀㈀011111" ！ዿ111㠀䌀爀攀眀洀愀渀 䠀漀爀渀搀漀最 猀挀爀攀眀猀 栀椀猀 眀愀礀 琀栀爀漀甀最栀 琀栀攀 匀挀栀眀愀爀琀稀眀攀氀琀 111 䌀栀愀搀 一愀琀栀愀渀猀漀渀 䌀栀愀搀 一愀琀栀愀渀猀漀渀

* * *

><p>(CCX: The file got corrupted; I decided to leave it in because it seemed so appropriate…but somehow, even though the current "last modified" date is in line with when I noticed that it had gotten fucked up and re-wrote some stuff, apparently nothing I did then has saved. The downside of working in Word 97: No autosave. So part of this is actually take <em>three<em>. Although I have absolutely no idea how the unreadable characters that I saw somehow managed to turn into legitimate Japanese characters upon uploading this, and I'm kind of curious to see what they mean.)

Correction: _Chinese_ characters. Should've figured that out myself, but when I put it into Google Translate, it detected it as Chinese, and naturally had a lot of words that were merely transliterated rather than translated, which _sounded_ Chinese. When I put the entire section in there, this is what it returned:

_쀆됇됀 Yao ㈀ 011111 "! ዿ 111 㠀 䌀 He climbed Mingzhou countenance Ben 䠀 mix Qing Qing Hebenmost Sha fees may He climbed Mingsha gardenia bowl Shaming countenance Cliff Han Zhi He Qingzhuimost uniform fees may climb gardenia gardenia gardenia Han Ming countenance He Hanximingpan Shuhan111 䌀 Zhiqiaochanyi Qiaohanzhiqiao Benshaqingben 䌀 Zhiqiaochanyi Qiaohanzhiqiao Benshaqingben_

__There is so much to say about this, starting with the fact that some characters weren't even transliterated. There seems to be a lot of repetition, which definitely supports the idea of it being random, and the parts where there actually are multiple translated words in a row are hilarious, because at times they're actually grammatically correct! "Uniform fees may climb" actually comes close to making sense, and it's definitely much better grammar than you'd normally expect to come out of an automated translator even if what you put in was actually something _correct._ But I think the funniest part of all is that "gardenia bowl Shaming countenance Cliff". Judging by the fact that "Shaming" is capitalized and that "Ming" and "Sha" both appear on their own within the text (and even "Mingsha"), I can only conclude that this is not a translated word, but rather a transliteration that just happens to come out looking exactly like an English word.

The best kind of humor is the kind that comes by accident.

* * *

><p>"So, you killed Gore, huh?" Jimenez asked.<p>

"It was self-defense. He attacked me and called me a demon in human disguise."

"That's good. He was a traitor to the mothers." He brought in a bunch of demons that looked like Asura's false form, and they swarmed the crew and awakened their chaotic side. "Didn't need to change anything about you though, did I?"

"I don't know…no. I guess not. A world where humans and demons live together…I can keep my demonic harem. A master of demons…"

"You're scaring me, Randy," Lilim said. "What happened to all of that talk about 'us'?"

"But Lilim…I'm doing this all for you! You and I…together…without fear of being discovered."

"You said it would be just the two of us…"

"Hey, you're usually all for the threeways and fourways."

"Ah…well, I guess that's true…"

"And I'm sure that in a world that lawless, polygamy will be perfectly legal."

"Heheh…what's 'legal'? There won't be any laws to stop you from taking as many wives as you want!"

"Not that it'll mean a damn thing, because marriage is a legal institution itself!" And the couple broke out in hysterics.

Jimenez then filled him in on the plan and told him to go see Mem Aleph. He did so.

"You have done well in coming, you who desire a world of freedom… I am Mem Aleph. The mother who lives in the depths of the waters of thought, giving birth to life on Earth… As proof that you and I are connected… I shall give you this power…" Mem Aleph blew her breath on Horndog, and suddenly he could see her true form. "I am overjoyed that you and Jimenez have become my soldiers. All you have done in my world… It was all to further your strength as a soldier, and for that, you have my forgiveness. The losses… the sacrifice… They were to gain a soldier who could reshape the human world. I sunk into this land that humans can never know…and watched. All the while, I took in the ideal energy of the creatures of Earth… and the humans. But then… destructive energies, giving birth to nothing, began flowing into this land… And as this happened, the Earth began to decay." She took a deep breath. "The Earth can no longer survive without reconstruction. To destroy the Earth is to destroy yourself. We must take the lives of those who have forgotten this and bequeath it to those who have not. What you call the Schwarzwelt was formed and put on Earth for that very purpose. To rebuild the Earth using the power of the Cosmic Eggs… The Cosmic Eggs I have created have the power to envelop the Earth and recreate it. I tried to give them to the demons invading Earth, but they have been scattered… If that power was to be released on the Earth, a paradise of demons and true humans would result. Collect the four Cosmic Eggs and unleash their power on the Earth. That is your task."

"Count me in. I like the idea of a paradise of demons and true humans." "And baby half-demons," he thought, "if that's even possible."

"I shall give you this. One with your skill should be able to put it to good use." He received the Clement Bell. "The four Cosmic Eggs you must collect are in the four lands closest to Earth. Leave this land and find them. The angels who have infiltrated this world will surely try to hinder you. Be careful. When you gather all of the Cosmic Eggs, return here to me… Now go, he who would forge a free world of demons and humans…"

"Man, every time she says that, I get chills. Demons and humans. You and me, together…"

"How is that any different than now?"

"Well, I guess it isn't…no, wait, what's different is that I won't need this stupid Demonica just to walk around. And you won't be bound to me by the Demon Summoning Program. We'll just be…a couple. A regular couple."

"…I can tell what you're thinking. You want to know if I'd be able to get pregnant with your baby, don't you?"

"I…kind of do."

"…I'll tell you once we've finished making this free world of demons and humans."

"Deal." He returned to Grus, partly because there was something else he wanted to check out and partly because he realized he'd been too hasty in deleting Succubus. She still had a purpose…ah, no, this new one was no better. Perhaps a Wild Hunt…he summoned two Primes, just to improve his odds of getting one that would upgrade Succubus.

They both did. He had a Lilith, skillset Charming Bolt/ Energy Drain/Life Aid/Resist Gun/Garudyne/Dekaja. He was amazed to find that the cost of resummoning this, if he were to fuse it, would be just a single macca more than the cost of summoning a base-data Wild Hunt, but it would be less expensive still to summon another Aeros and Succubus and fuse them...but for what? Wild Hunt was still too weak. Only one as powerful as Lilith would work… "Guess I should be equipping that Shusendo or whatever it was that increases my Macca gains." Lady Skadi naturally boosted Ice, as well as draining it, making the Void Ice that it would've received in the fusion completely worthless. He used Black Rider's source to give it a second ice attack, the powerful Glacial Blast, as well as giving it Mana Surge. Truly, this would be a fearsome attacker to any demon weak against Ice. He then resummoned Lilith.

"Ah…Mother."

"Another mother?"

"Not one of the mothers. But Lilith is the mother of the Lilim," Lilim explained.

"Well, then, Ms. Lilith, I welcome you to my party, and although the institution is likely going to be broken down very soon anyway, I'd like to formally ask for your daughter's hand in marriage."

Lilith stared at him, then at Lilith. "Dear, I thought we were supposed to be tempting men, not actually making them fall headlong in love."

"Randy's…special. Also, I may be his favorite girl, and in fact the only one he's ever discussed marriage with as far as I know, but he's got a regular harem going here. He doesn't need my temptation to be depraved." Randy just smiled, or tried to, though the Demonica obscured his mouth.

He also finally added Fallen Gemori to his harem, using a Mitama to give her extra skills, then rendezvoused with Tyrant Mara, who was allegedly once a beautiful goddess but currently looked like a giant phallus. He headed to Carina, remembering the door that he'd been unable to open (although in retrospect, when he'd last checked that door, he didn't have Unlock C, either), and found Dragon Zhu Yin guarding the first Cosmic Egg—being of a chaotic mind, the dragon gave it to Horndog without a fight. The same thing happened when he met Fury Wu Kong at the end of the path behind the door in Sector Antlia—though he was dismayed to discover that there was a darkened area that his Visualizer couldn't reveal, though it was easy enough to navigate. Next he headed to Sector Bootes, remembering a locked door near the elevator on the sixth floor. He found a treasure trove of forma, the wreckage of the Gigantic, and three Yatagarasu, guarding the third Cosmic Egg. They were easily defeated. He didn't remember seeing any doors he couldn't open in Sector Delphinus, but it wasn't long before his memory was jogged, as the door was right near the entrance. He navigated another conveyor belt maze and found an elevator to the highest level of Delphinus—higher than he'd previously thought the region went. A Cherub guarded the last Cosmic Egg, and it was defeated even more easily than the Yatagarasu. He headed back to Horologium, intending to deliver the Eggs.

Herald Israfel got in the way and destroyed the elevator. He wasn't too tough to defeat, and he dropped a rare forma which became Gate Search D. Meanwhile, he'd been fusing more demons. He created a Sphinx, then fused that to create a Garuda. He discovered that fusing Garuda with Skadi would create a very powerful demon, the Fury Susano-O, but then he ran into a group of Dakinis and decided to resummon his own so that he could avoid battle with them. Fusing Garuda with Dakini would produce the Megami Laksmi, also powerful and with the benefit of being female. To expand the harem, or go for pure power? "Eh, the harem's big enough. Besides, those lawful demons are starting to become a pain in the ass."

"_Excuse me?_"

"Not you, Moh; I still love you."

"G-good. Because I'm not about to let you just run off into this new world of yours, okay!"

"Wouldn't dream of it. Besides, you're going to need someone strong to protect you, right? A lawful demon like you will probably be persecuted in our chaotic world."

"I can handle myself! I-I'd just be lonely, is all."

"It's okay. I'll protect you. From the loneliness."

The lower levels of Horologium were quite treacherous, filled with trap floors. Horndog found himself walking in circles before realizing that a path he'd ignored due to it being covered in lava and a safer path being available actually hid a second path. It led to another elevator, which he rode back to the first floor and found a new door to the beginning. This would be a big timesaver, as it was a shortcut to the next path. He went through another dark area that he couldn't navigate and received a new mission from Barong, delivering a mirror to a Femme Rangda, and also leveled up Skadi, fusing her with Garuda to create Susano-O (skillset: Mana Surge/Mana Bonus/Killing Wind/Hades Blast/Mahamaon/Mamudoon—assisted by Atropos's Source.) He was pleased to find that in the end, the Fury _would_ provide the path to expanding the harem, as fusing Susano-O with Dakini would produce Lady Xi Wangmu. Well, technically there were two different female options, but he wasn't terribly interested in creating his own Mara. Never date a woman with a larger dick than yours, right?

The next section of Horologium involved a ridiculously large conveyor belt maze, with pitfalls blocking off the wrong paths. It was easy enough to deal with the enemies, though, so Horndog didn't mind too much. All about the curiosity.

"That's good."

Horndog was a bit surprised; it was a voice he didn't hear often. "Excuse me?"

"That you still have that curiosity. It shows that you're not as far gone as you seem to think you are," Maya said.

"Are you going to be sticking around after this is all over, too?" Lilim asked.

Maya laughed. "No, a harem like this is no place for me. Once we finish this and the Schwarzwelt is released over all of the Earth, I'll probably go back to the region you call Grus, and return to ruling over it." Horndog had never quite understood how it worked when these apparently unique demons were both in his party and standing across from him as enemies. A Beast Cerberus asked to join his party, but he couldn't find much of anything useful to turn it into—the best he could do would be to fuse it to Dakini to make another Sphinx. He then received another Raptor Dress when Moh Shuvuu leveled up. (CCX: Not sure if I ever outright mentioned it, but when Lilim and Moh Shuvuu got upgraded with the Mitamas, Moh Shuvuu gained the Vigilant skill, so she's leveling up even though she isn't in the active party. The "continuing to level up" factor is also what has kept Bai Suzhen in the party as long as she's been there, though she has the less effective "Watchful".) Next, he found what could potentially be a huge source of EXP…_if_ he could defeat it. Yes, it was…a Trumpeter. He started the battle by summoning Black Rider to replace Dakini in the active party, having Pale Rider charge up while Susano-O started the assault. Black Rider took care of debilitating it, while Pale Rider alternated between Charge and Heaven's Bow, Susano-O used Hades Blast, and Horndog used Moan Bullet. It only took one Sacrifice to survive the battle; Hostile Terror did afflict both Horndog and Susano-O first with Sleep and then with Poison. Pale Rider leveled up. Horndog immediately raced for a terminal. A Ganesha then asked to join up. It didn't have any terribly useful skills and didn't produce any terribly interesting fusion possibilities, but he let it stick around long enough to get him through the area, as he would be able to avoid battles with others of its ilk this way.

Well, no. That wasn't entirely true. With Pale Rider leveled up, he could very well put something new into his party in search of a new source, and Ganesha had…wait, both Repel Wind and Endure? "More useful than he looks…" He continued exploring the conveyor maze, discovering a hidden passage that would eventually provide a shortcut back to the beginning that would allow him to skip the maze in the future, and was just about to head up to the next level when he found himself immediately placed on a conveyor when investigating a hidden door, which immediately dropped him into a pit to a part of the third basement that he'd never been in. "Just when I thought I'd found my way…"

His dismay was short-lived, as he found the new area to be full of treasure—a pair of forma valuable enough to require his forma search C and a chest with 50000 Macca. Dakini leveled up and changed Agidyne to Sleepwalker. He got back to familiar territory and headed straight for the heal spot, and was surprised to find that his Gate Search had uncovered a hidden room while he was on his way. It contained a couple of chests, with 2 Soma and a Great Chakra. He set off for the staircase he'd seen earlier, but had been unable to reach as there was a known pitfall in the way, and found that it led to only a short passage that headed to another staircase going back down; since the ensuing floor was already crowded enough as it was, that led immediately to another staircase. He headed down to the 3rd basement, where he was met by a Kin-Ki with some encouraging words and a Succubus who warned him that some "puffed-up angel" was lurking nearby. While the very next battle he faced featured a Cherub, he didn't figure that that was it, and he remained on his guard.

However, upon descending, the first demon he met was Rangda. He showed her the mirror from Barong, her rival, and just looking at it irritated her. She asked if he knew the story of her and Barong, and Horndog admitted that he did not. She told him that Barong had been her nemesis from the beginning of creation until the end of time, and that they'd been reincarnating and fighting. Then she gave him a claw to give to Barong as a return message. On the subject of things that were irritating, he found a teleporter maze waiting for him, and furthermore, upon being teleported for the first time, another Rangda mentioned that she'd been teleported somewhere else on another occasion, involving the full moon. Ganesha leveled up and was sent packing, and Lilith returned to the party just in time to talk another Lilith out of battling with Horndog. Multiple times he tried to use the warp at the full moon, only to find that it was the wrong warp and be forced to wait another moon cycle. He tried to negotiate with a Rangda to get it to join the party. The first one he spoke to attacked immediately, and the second one he just outright failed the negotiation, but the third and final member of the three-Rangda party he had been facing gave him a Bead upon completion of a successful negotiation. Well, it was something… Bai Suzhen turned her Explosive Fist into Tricky Dance upon leveling up…and also gave Horndog a second Source.

The next time he met Rangda, he was unable to take advantage of the opportunity, as the moon had just gone full. He also confirmed what he thought he'd seen before—that the warp tile that was hardest to reach in the first place, stuck behind a line of other warps and therefore only reachable by warping in from another room, seemed to glow red at the full moon. He took the warp and found it to be correct. He then got waylaid by another one-way door taking him to another warp, and this after Susano-O had been poisoned by a Cerebus, too… Finally, he successfully negotiated with Rangda, only to find that he'd forgotten to leave space in his party for her. She called him greedy, which he resented seeing as how she'd tried to enter the party _before_ he'd even gotten the chance to ask her to. He soon discovered that one-way doors and warp tiles were _all_ he'd find in the new area, so one of them must lead onward rather than backward. Naturally, it was the last one he tried out. When he got it right, he found a chest with two Balms of Rising and an elevator that would create a shortcut back to the entrance to Horologium. Since he was near the entrance anyway, he decided to take a side trip to give Rangda's Claw to Barong. On the way there, Moh Shuvuu leveled up again, with the same gift as last time. "A little insecure, are we?" Horndog teased. "I already told you, your place in my heart is safe. Don't go trying to grow up too quickly." Moh Shuvuu didn't respond. Barong understood the gesture to be a symbol of truce within the Schwarzwelt, and Horndog received a Great Chakra. He headed back down the elevator and passed near a staircase, and immediately his Demonica confirmed what his ears had already been telling him: something powerful was nearby. Something…holy.

"Careful, Randy. Looks like there's angels close by," Jimenez radioed in.

"No kidding. I can already hear that godforsaken song. Only two people I know that make that horrible noise…and I certainly wouldn't mind beating the crap out of either one of them." Dakini's skillset didn't seem like it would be terribly useful in a boss fight, as two of her four active skills were instant death and another merely caused status effects, so he benched her in favor of Maya and prepared to meet whatever angelic power awaited him on the fifth basement. Halfway there, right? Mem Aleph was nine floors down from the entrance. Almost immediately he was set upon by a group of demons, but there was a Lilith among them so he avoided the battle. He stepped forward.

"I did not think it would come to this… That the evil spirits have come this far…"

"Quit hiding and address me face to face…Mastema."

* * *

><p>CCX: I'm just glad I've finally gotten this chapter done. With all of the shit that's happened, losing part of my file once and then losing all of the repair work I'd done after finding it… Anyway, most of the stuff that was lost in the corruption was direct quotes from the game, so nothing too big missing there. Ja ne!<p> 


	12. Chapter 12: A Band of Evil Angels

Crewman Horndog screws his way through the Schwartzwelt  
>by Cyberchao X<p>

Disclaimer: The Shin Megami Tensei series is property of Atlus.

Chapter 12: A Band of Evil Angels

Mastema did indeed show himself—_itself_, Randy reminded himself; he'd come to the conclusion that angels lacked genders completely. "But you shall go no further, human seduced by evil…you defiled spirit Randy."

"I beg to differ. See, I've been waiting for this opportunity since the moment I met you. You may appear holy, but I sensed nothing but a great evil from you. I relish the chance to destroy you."

"Still… I did not think it would be me that would be called to return you to dust."

"It doesn't surprise me one bit. A prick like you? I bet even the God you serve hates you."

"There was a time when I thought you would understand the will of our Lord, but… Evidently not. How regrettable it is for you to be seduced…"

"Really? I thought that was your game. I remember…Mastema, the Angel of Hostility. The angel who tempts humans and tests their faith. Who asked G-d to permit him to have _demons_ as his subordinates…"

"…"

"Hit a nerve, have I?"

"…Yet this must happen. I won't let this paltry human ruin all I've worked towards!"

"_Ha-Satan._ The Satan. It's not actually a name, though most associate it solely with Lucifer, the most famous bearer of that title. But long before Lucifer, back in the time of Abraham…the holder of that title was named Mastema."

"Urrrrrrrrgh! Why would you not heed my words!"

"Why won't you heed mine? You belong with us, not with this God you serve…I'm sure 'Ms. Ferre' would welcome you, seeing as how you and she both held the same title at different points in history…the title of Satan."

"Humans live to be manipulated! I only needed you to act according to your nature as pawns!"

"There was a demon I encountered on the way here that said something very similar. Of course, he said that the angels were even _more_ powerless to act without orders from their God."

"It is when you try to forge your own path, human, that you err!"

"So, then, you believe in this featureless world you preach? How is that even living? I choose freedom!"

"Urrrrrrrrgh! Wretched humanity! Zelenin… she is my sole remaining hope!"

"That tool…she's right up there on my list, too. But you…you're the one I really want to get rid of."

"I have cultivated her as the greatest magus! My plan is sound even without you!"

"I wonder how she'll respond when she finds out she's being used…that while you claim to act in G-d's name, you've really been plotting your own schemes all along. I may not like her and her preachy attitude…but she, at least, seems _honestly_ devoted to serving your Lord!"

"I cannot tolerate another failure! I must be acknowledged by my Lord!"

"So then I was right. He _doesn't_ care about you. He doesn't give one _shit_ about you, Mastema!"

"Only then can I leave behind this angel's form and ascend to something more supreme!"

"'Ascend'…that's rich. What you should become is a demon; it suits your nature so well. In fact, this may be the first conversation I've had with you that I've enjoyed. Your words are no different than the words of a demon."

"Randy! I will rend your flesh between my teeth and tear your soul asunder!"

"Bring it!"

* * *

><p>The battle started with the usual tactics—full-out attack with Moan Bullet, Megidola, Garudyne, and Killing Wind. Unfortunately, Wind was reflected, but luckily Lilith and Susano-O didn't take too much damage from their own attacks. For the life of him, though, Horndog couldn't figure out what one of Mastema's attacks, "Great Lament", did. Another attack called "Untainted Wind" did heavy damage, primarily to himself and Maya. It also did damage to Mastema as Susano-O reflected it. Next came Judgement, apparently an Expel-based instant kill as he completely blocked it. Lilith was taken down, so he brought Black Rider in to start Debilitating. He brought out the Bead Chains as necessary and watched as the Herald debuted another attack, "Mel Faize", though he wasn't quite sure what kind of damage it dealt. Black Rider was taken out after its Grand Tack was reflected back at it…there was little he could do. Most of Pale Rider's best attacks would be reflected back at it, and while Lilim's Luster Candy could be useful, she was too weak to withstand Mastema's attacks for long. He summoned Gemori with the intent of having her revive the two that had been defeated, but before she had the chance, Mastema was finished. All four active members of the party at the end leveled up, Susano-O giving Horndog a source.<p>

"Urrrrrgh… I am… defeated… by the likes of a human…?"

Louisa herself showed up and interrupted (CCX: The game actually misspells the word as "interupt" here), "My, my. Did you think yourself so important? You false angel…"

"I knew I'd struck a nerve."

"Yeah, you're something else, Randy," Lilim agreed.

"Y…You… Lucifer…"

"This is what you angels, born by the breath of God, get for scheming to rebuild the earth. Now look at you… not a shred of nobility left. You are a pathetic spirit that thinks only of himself."

"_Itself,"_ Horndog mentally corrected.

"…You were… a part of this…? Curse… you…"

"Wait, you didn't even notice her presence?" Horndog asked. "You're more dense than I thought. Although…I suppose it all makes sense now." He turned to Louisa/Lucifer. "I found it weird, initially, that the form you took before me was female. When you appeared aboard the Red Sprite, it confirmed that this was your appearance, as the others saw you this way too…but it still _is_ just _a_ form, correct? You chose your appearance…and for one such as me, a beautiful woman would be a perfect temptation. Although as I mentioned at the end of our first meeting, you actually look uncannily like a human woman I once knew, and didn't really care to meet up with again."

"But know this… No matter… how much you support humans… nothing… will change…"

"Humans, born of the God's madness, belong to me. I have no love for them. But neither will I abandon them."

"It truly is spooky. Up until the part about not abandoning them, you really sounded just like her—to the point that I almost started to wonder if you _had_ appeared on Earth in human guise to tempt me prior to our meeting in the Schwarzwelt."

"That is freedom. But you, Mastema… you have no freedom. You have nothing you started yourself. That is why God abandons you."

"Nothing he started himself? So then he was just a pawn, too? Now I'm frightened…"

"Think on that as you fade from this world."

"…Curse… you… You who have abandoned the angels… and humans… alike…"

"You're obviously not listening to Louisa one bit, are you, Massy? She _just said_ she wouldn't abandon us, even though she has no love for us."

"Ugh… Uggggh…" Then Mastema was no more.

"…Good show, Randy. This should kill the angels' enthusiasm. Of course, there still is one troublesome spirit remaining…"

"…Zelenin."

"It falls to you to reap her soul with your own hands."

"Rape what? …Just kidding; I heard you. Can't say I'm happy about the idea of killing another human…ah, but Zelenin's not human anymore, is she? Then I'll gladly destroy the abomination that she let herself be turned into."

"Well, best of luck. I'll be watching." She left.

"Still creepy."

"You didn't have any problem massacring Jack's Squad," Lilim pointed out.

"They deserved it. They were worse than any demons."

With Susano-O leveled up, it was time to create Xi Wangmu. Default skills would be Makarakarn, Invitation, Fleeting Rain, Mana Surge, and Mana Bonus…all nice skills. But with such a big boost to MP, could it be worthwhile to add something else? Most of the better skills were on high-level sources that wouldn't be worth wasting on a demon that only really needed one extra skill…Parvati's source contained only three skills, one being the passive "Recovery Amp" and the others being Me Patra and Amrita. After a number of attempts, he got one to appear with all five of the skills it would've received without a source along with Amrita. Not a strong attacker, but with the damage-reflecting Makarakarn and the revive-and-resummon Invitation and any-ailment healing Amrita, it would be one hell of a support demon, with plenty of MP to supply those moves. Just out of curiosity, he looked at her fusion chart, but it was all Femmes and Kishins.

The next area added a new wrinkle, one that Horndog had yet to encounter—invisible paths. A Ganesha asked to join up; Horndog denied it. A Hresvelgr did the same, and Horndog allowed it. However, he found that it made for a useful fusion—the mechanical dragon, Fafnir, was yielded when he fused the Raptor with Gemori. He soon realized that the area had a rotational symmetry—that if he turned his map 180 degrees, it would look exactly the same, and thus, he could find the path more easily if he'd found a corresponding path. He found a staircase back up to the fourth floor, got misdirected onto a lava floor, and was finally able to add Rangda to his party. Then he found a Gumonji Mirror, a rare forma. "Hmm…and here I thought I had the apps to get through anything…unless…could this be the key to the next stage of Visualizer?"

It was not. Rather, it was Enemy Search C. "Oh, yes, but of course. I still hadn't gotten an optional upgrade to that function like Unlock E and Gate Search E. How silly of me."

No new items were available—he'd kind of expected that he'd get a new one available after killing the Trumpeter, but he supposed that they were so rare that they didn't have things that could be made with _multiple_ Eerie Cornets. (CCX: I managed to kill one Trumpeter, and only one, in my first playthrough. There was also a death against a Trumpeter that I didn't mention; it actually happened right after I'd fused together Susano-O, and the second time out, I actually got a skillset closer to what I'd originally wanted.) He noticed the name "Nihil" among the list of forgeable weapons, though, and acquired one for the purposes of the dwarf's mission. He found himself short one Anubis Stone, though…time for a little side trip?

Yes, indeed, and time to let the favorites out to play. A party of Lilim, Bai Suzhen, and Moh Shuvuu would be the perfect level for Eridanus's monsters, and…what the fuck is _that?_

"Vile Samael…a powerful foe." Horndog took to his normal strategy for dealing with powerful foes, whipping out the Moan Bullet, while Lilim buffed the party with Luster Candy and Moh Shuvuu used Fang Breaker to weaken the enemy. It turned out to be not so tough after all…and upon seeing his reward, a Vile Prehnite, he couldn't help but think that there would be something new available to him when he returned to Irving's lab.

The next time he used Enemy Search, it was also a Type C demon, the Enigma Kangiten. Unlike Samael, which had only attacked Horndog, this one attacked the rest of the party, and both Moh Shuvuu and Bai Suzhen went down. Shortly thereafter, a Rakshasa decided to join up. Horndog looked at its fusion chart and saw it to be full of Haunts and Tyrants. He looked to see if Tyrant Balor was involved in any Special Fusions. It wasn't…but Abbadon was. It was…interesting, the placement of that Special Fusion. The other two ingredients were a Cherub and a Throne, both members of the Divine family…and based on its placement between Seraph and Norn, it seemed like it could only be…"Mastema. How fitting that a Tyrant would be part of the fusion material needed to summon you." He also noticed another Special Fusion that he'd not seen before, requiring Rangda and some unknown Avatar—probably Barong. Still, this little endeavor, while not unrewarding, was likely to be a bit tedious. Such forma that can only be found by chance are too hard to search for. He returned to the ship, leaving the Jaki behind.

His memory had served him correctly—with the new Prehnite, he had the materials needed for an Absolute Vest, which increased his overall defense and made him completely immune to gunfire, though it didn't grant as much protection against physical attacks as his previous armor had.

He set back out, finished navigating the first area of invisible paths (picking up another temporary Ganesha in the process, in order to fend off attacks), and found that he was being herded by pillars of lava. (He was also surprised to discover that Dakini, a foe he'd thought to be native to higher levels of the sector, was down there.) He accidentally discovered a door while backtracking from a dead end, and stepped outside only to be teleported to an area just outside the visible path. He took two steps and found himself teleported to the exact same spot, then finally found his way back to the original path…but he had a feeling that this was going to be a nightmare, perhaps even worthy of equipping Red Carpet for.

It ended up not being so bad. The trick was to avoid visible tiles and stay on the invisible path. He found an elevator, expecting it to lead both down a single floor and up to the top, as just about every previous elevator had led to the top, but instead, found it to lead to…the lowest floor? So close…yet still so far away. He resurfaced on the sixth basement on the other side…oh my. This was it. The place Mara had marked off on his map.

An Archangel spoke. "Soon, an angel of the burning flame shall be upon us."

A Virtue. "A miracle is about to occur. The miracle that shall be the foundation of a beautiful world…"

A Dominion. "New guidance… by our hands…"

A Principality. "The new world shall begin. This ritual is the first step toward that end."

An Angel. "We shall offer our bodies and have a great light descend upon us."

"If she's offering her body…" Alice started, but Horndog hushed her. "As far as we're concerned, the angels are sexless, okay? No matter how hot they are."

A Power. "With this, we can turn the tide on our situation."

A Throne. "Glory be to the advent of a new seraph."

A Cherub, standing on the exact spot that Mara had marked off. "Is everyone ready? Let us begin the ritual." The angels gathered in the center of the area. Horndog and his crew decided to step in and stop it. The Cherub told him not to interfere, and a barrier prevented him from coming near. "Sinner who rebels against our Lord, cease your futile works."

"I still can't help but wonder if you angels even know what your Lord really wants. While I don't think it's the lawless world that the demons are after…I think that _their_ idea of a free world is at least closer to His desires than the steadfast and unchanging world that your false prophets have dictated!"

"The birth of the great angel is already at hand. Sit there and watch in awe."

"Never."

"Now, let us sing! Fill the air with words of praise!"

"Oh G-d no…not that godforsaken song!" He was reveling in his choice of words, because he knew it pissed the angels off.

"Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus Dominus, Deus Sabaoth…"

"Our lives for thee, Father…"

"We shall spill our blood…"

"And by our deaths will light be born…" Randy couldn't help but laugh at the fact that a bunch of angels, claiming to serve G-d, were acting like a bunch of goth teenagers that claim to worship Satan. Speaking of which, he'd have to tell Louisa about that if he saw her again—he had a feeling she'd find it funny. She probably already knew, though.

"A great light that serves the Lord!" The Cherub seemed to be the only one who knew how to wield an exclamation point. The angels coalesced into light.

A new angel was born, with six wings and four faces. "…I… I am the nameless angel, born in readiness for the holy war. Wreathed in flame, I am the highest of the heavenly host, Seraph."

"You don't appear to be wreathed in flame."

"Randy… I have seen thy deeds through the eyes of many an angel… I hoped thy spirit would be holy, but in the end, thou art an example of thy cursed species."

"We are all G-d's children, are we not?" Horndog said, trying to throw the hypocritical angels' "religion" back in their faces.

"Receive the judgment of my flames and return to dust!"

The battle began as per usual—Horndog using Moan Bullet, Fafnir and Xi Wangmu using _their_ multi-hit attacks (Madness Crush and Fleeting Rain), and Rangda using Debilitate. Seraph started with regular attacks, then threw in a Debilitate of its own before using Big Bang, right as Horndog erased the Debilitate with a Dekunda Stone. This did heavy damage, but failed to finish any of them; since MP was also beginning to run low, he opted for a Bead of Life over a mere Bead Chain. With Rangda's Debilitating work done, he set her to using Magarudyne, and this did more damage than anything else had save for the Moan Bullet (which, annoyingly, had been a single-hit attack _every time_ thus far.) _"Perhaps it's strong against both guns and physical attacks…and neither Fafnir nor Xi Wangmu has elemental attacks. Time to go for the switch."_ Maya replaced Xi Wangmu, and then Lilith came in. Maya managed to find the Seraph's weakness, Ice, and before he'd even realized that he was close to defeating it, down it went. Rangda and Lilith leveled up. If he'd known he was getting close, he would've summoned back Xi Wangmu, or possibly even Fafnir. The "more grown-up" Moh Shuvuu gave him a Magaru Stone, and he suddenly regretted his decision to go with Lilith instead of Lilim. Moh Shuvuu was at a higher level than Lilim now…

The seraph disappeared. "A son of man defeated an angel like that…? Well, don't that beat all." Horndog couldn't locate the source of the voice.

It was Mara. "I finally caught up, but it looks like I was a second too late. You went and spoiled my fun. Still, I'm surprised they brought out a Seraph. Sorry I made you do all the hard work, but… Guess I was worried for nothing. Hahaha… It all worked out. Now then, here's your reward. It's pretty nifty, if I do say so myself." Horndog received a Peacemaker. Mara then mentioned that she was back in her perfect form. "I'm itchin' all over… Er, for battle, I mean. You and me, raising hell…get me?"

Yes, unfortunately. Deleting the latest temporary Ganesha was an easy decision, but it wouldn't be long before the only thing that would make sense would be to cut loose one of his favorite girls.

Tetrakarn, Charge, and Hades Blast. Good skills…but only three skills. Never good enough for one of his demons. But first, it would be time for a trip to a terminal. No need to risk a needless accident…He took a look at Ganesha's source. Even though Ganesha's ability to repel wind was listed as a special ability rather than an innate one, his source did have Floral Gust, Diarahan, and Tarunda in addition to endure. Still, not quite…Maya's source would work. It shared one skill with the Mitama that he'd be using to enhance Mara…whose only other skill was one Mara already had. Only seven total skills in play… He ended up adding Void Mind, Concentrate, and Megidolaon to Mara's arsenal. A concentrated Megidolaon…the same obnoxious attack that the Alilat had used. Megidolaon itself was the Trumpeters' weapon of choice, when not slinging Horn of Fate around.

And…the truth was revealed. The standard dialogue that Mara gave upon being summoned through the DFP (as the result of a Mitama Fusion) was that of an _old man_.

Anyway, seeing Mara's fusion list, he immediately regretted not fusing the Jaki to something to create a Tyrant. These were decent demons…two different Viles were available, Samael and Seth. And this was by fusing the Tyrants with the Fiends! He resummoned Rakshasa, then fused it with Bai Suzhen to create Balor…unfortunately, Tyrants don't prime and Balor was too weak to make anything of use, yielding a mere Taotie with Alice and the only semi-interesting "Pales" by taking away one of the riders. He instead fused it to…who had he fused it to? Lilith, he fused it to Lilith, and brought about Jaki Hecatoncheir. This led to a possible fusion with Drake Fafnir, for the Tyrant Surt. Agidyne/Ragnarok/Fire Amp/Madness Crush/Megaton Press. Very good…but why not use Inferno's source to add an additional Fire Boost? Good, good. This Tyrannical Team would work. Now, to get back the fusion material…such a drain on the Macca reserves. Only Lilith could return at the moment. Fafnir was out of the question, and even Bai Suzhen and Lilim (who he'd taken out because she'd be the cheapest to resummon, seeing as how he needed space for Mara's Mitama) wouldn't be returning until he got more Macca.

But soon he found the switch to the lava, and soon after that, he found a passage that had previously been entirely blocked off. He explored, and found a demon that he couldn't even recognize—a true unknown demon. Moan Bullet/Concentrate/Ragnarok/Makarakarn was the plan for turn one; the unknown demon was flanked by two Mushussus.

It turned out to be Reaper Mot, and it silenced Surt during the battle. He gave the tyrant a dis-mute.

Shortly thereafter, he encountered other Surts, and talked to one, only to find…half of Thoth's last book? Surt was concerned about accidentally turning it into charcoal, but he said it had been for naught, as that book doesn't burn, not even when exposed to the flames of Laevateinn's blade. "Of course…Laevateinn is that sword. So then, the other half lies with Excalibur…" He thought about this. "And I'd just been there…" He headed back outside. "Hey, I missed something…another door to before. Time to get back to Eridanus." He tracked down Vivian and completed the mission.

* * *

><p>CCX: <em>Because it is said: He sent forth against them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, indignation and trouble, <em>_**a band of evil angels.**_ Yeah, it's not often I actually get inspired by something of actual class. The reason I don't even bother with chapter titles in many of my stories is because, well, I usually have enough trouble just naming the stories, and I end up with, well, a lot of bad puns. Hell, the last chapter's title was a pun off of the name of a video game, and yet here we get…a reference to the Jews' exodus from Egypt. Gotta love the inconsistency here. Also, so little of the main plot advances—we started with the descent to the fifth basement, and the elevator back to the beginning that we just caught left from the sixth basement—yet this is the longest chapter yet, probably because I've finally gotten the hang of giving Randy great responses to the dialogue in the game. Ja ne!


	13. Chapter 13: Loose Ends

Crewman Horndog screws his way through the Schwartzwelt  
>by Cyberchao X<p>

Disclaimer: The Shin Megami Tensei series is property of Atlus.

Chapter 13: Loose Ends

Horndog was almost ready to descend to the next level, but noticed a passage he'd failed to explore. He found a hidden door, and it required Gate Search E, so he figured it had to be hiding something worthwhile. He discovered the Raven Stone, and took it back to Irving to create Visualizer C.

Not that this would be necessary for much longer. The puzzles were quickly running out—only a single chamber filled with invisible walls provided any resistance. In the chamber, which also held a plane shifter, he discovered many treasures, and also convinced a Fafnir to give up his circuits for the purpose of science. He finished sorting out the mysteries of the room and continued on, adding a Hecatoncheir for negotiation purposes as he went and getting rid of Ganesha yet again. Soon he was on the eighth basement, and the ground was shaking. Mem Aleph was near. There were some pillars of lava, but they did not meaningfully obstruct his path. "This is it…"

"Yes, but _what_ is 'it'?" Lilim asked. "What exactly do these Cosmic Eggs do?"

"I have no idea, but they're very important and powerful."

Jimenez appeared as they approached Mem Aleph's chambers. "…We've finally come this far. Good work, Randy. I gotta go get my final orders, too. The angels tried to stop us, but looking back…they didn't put up much of a fight, huh?"

"You're right…Mastema was surprisingly easy to pummel, and the vaunted 'angel of the burning flame' was outright _weak_. Kind of makes me uneasy…"

"…There's still one that didn't show, though…"

"The ice queen. Yeah, I noticed that, too. Louisa told me I'd have to reap her soul, so…she'd better show up soon."

"Guess she ran away. Or hell, maybe she's praying we'll keel over and die."

"If only that were all. When we first rescued her from Mitra, she _was_ that scared and helpless…and useless… but she's not so submissive now. I'm not sure if I'm praying we don't run into her, or praying we do."

"C'mon, let's go. To Mem Aleph…"

* * *

><p>"You have done well in returning, Randy, and Jimenez. What you hold in your hands are undoubtedly the four Cosmic Eggs. You have fulfilled your duty."<p>

"I'm glad you're happy, Mother Mem Aleph. We're always with you…" Jimenez replied.

"Jimenez, Randy. By pledging that we live in harmony, a new era will dawn. The human souls who gnawed away at the Earth shall be eradicated…"

"'Eradication' and 'harmony' don't quite seem like concepts that should fit together, but okay, go on…"

"And humans shall regain their true, vibrant selves."

"Oh. Okay, then, yes, that sounds good."

"On that day, we demons will also reclaim our strong and beautiful forms." Once again, Horndog couldn't help but be reminded of his conversations with Asura. Though Asura's methods were misguided and foolish, his…or her, as the case may have been…its motives were noble. "When humans are beautiful… So will demons be. The two races are as opposite sides of a mirror…"

"Demons alone… humans alone… Neither can exist on Earth by themselves." _"And I wouldn't want to,"_ Horndog thought, instinctively holding Lilim closer to himself. "We've always been taught that demons are the enemy, but in fact, they're an inseparable part of us."

"Were we? Almost as soon as I encountered demons, I was told of the opportunity they offered as allies. My motives in wanting demonic allies may not have been pure at first…but I don't think I ever saw demons as being unconditionally 'the enemy'."

"And we never would have known it if the Schwarzwelt hadn't appeared, huh, Randy?" Horndog nodded. "So, Mother Mem Aleph… Can you tell us what we need to do next? We're done collecting the Cosmic Eggs…"

"…Yes. I shall give you your final order. When it is complete, the wish we demons have held so long shall be granted." Mem Aleph took a deep breath, and the ground rumbled. "It is now time for you to release the power of the Cosmic Eggs onto the Earth. Their overwhelming power will remove the cursed ones and change the face of the Earth. It will become a place worthy of the beautiful and ancient gods… But to complete that mission…the gate to Earth must be opened for their power to be sent forth."

"The gate…? Ah, the Vanishing Point, right. I get you."

"Take this orb." Mem Aleph handed Horologium's Exotic Matter to Horndog, giving him the last key he needed to open the Vanishing Point. "With this, the final key…the gate shall open, revealing the way to Earth."

"The final Exotic Matter, huh…? But you're giving this to us? Why not just release the energy yourself…?"

"I, too, have one final thing that I must accomplish. I must entrust this orb to you. Now make for the gate, to revive the power of demons on Earth. I…shall disappear. But only for a short while. When the Earth has been restored… I will be there. We shall… meet again… Randy… Jimenez…"

"So she had to sacrifice herself for this to work?"

"I see… Mem Aleph became the last of the Cosmic Eggs' energy. For us to be able to reshape the Earth the way it should be… We have to send our reborn Mother to the Earth."

"That…almost actually makes sense."

"C'mon, Randy! To the Vanishing Point! Let's create a world of free souls!"

* * *

><p>Horndog reported back to Tanaka with Fafnir's circuits and got a Dragon Vest. Before heading off to the Vanishing Point, however, he felt that he was strong enough now to take on Alilat. It was time to give that battle another try. He just prayed that he remembered the proper path. It didn't take too long, and Xi Wangmu leveled up right before the battle—he looked at her abilities and considered her to be unnecessary, so Black Rider and his Debilitate joined the party in her place. An Enemy Search yielded a Vile Seth, and since it had a Drake Nidhoggr acting as a sidekick and thus allowing the battle to yield experience, Black Rider <em>also<em> got a level-up right before the battle. It wasn't hard at all for some reason; Black Rider had only just finished Debilitating when Surt's Ragnaroks, Mara's Concentrated Megidolaons, and Horndog's Moan Bullets managed to finish the job. Surt, Horndog, and Moh Shuvuu all leveled up; Surt tried to change his Agidyne, but Horndog wouldn't allow it, as ridiculously overpowered fire spells were his game.

"It cannot be… The seal is broken not by the angels of Abraham, but by humans…? But the restoration of the primal Earth neareth its end…"

"Yes, that's correct; we've almost finished the job."

"He can do nothing, even should the seal be broken… It shall begin. It will revive. The goddess-worshipping world he once trampled."

"Who is 'he', exactly?"

"The ancient world I crave…" Alilat broke into pieces.

"What."

"Randy, I thank you for defeating the demon. I can now recover a lost aspect of myself." The mysterious strike team member…had he ever really been a member of the strike team at all, or was he really a demon? "… The time has come for me to reveal myself to you." A demon, then. "As you have surely realized… I am no human."

"Yeah, I figured that out when you started talking about recovering a lost aspect of yourself. You're the 'he' that demon was talking about."

"I am a part of the sacred spirit…and right now, I am powerless. I borrowed the form of your crew to search for one capable of defeating that demon." Light gathered around the false crewman, who transformed into an angel. "Ah… it seems some of my power has returned. But… Even this form is temporary. This is the visage of a lesser god… an aspect of the Holy Spirit, if you will. By freeing the Holy Spirits sealed away all across the lands, I shall regain my true form. To assume my true brilliance… that is the goal I seek."

"Too bad your champion doesn't fight for the side of law. I've finally found an angel that appears to be worth fighting…and one whose goals don't even involve turning humanity into a bunch of drooling vegetables, at that!"

"I am sorry to have deceived you."

"Don't worry about it. You won't have to remain sorry for long."

"Thank you. But I did not lie when I made my promise to you." Horndog had honestly forgotten what that promise was. "I brought you here with a tale of treasure guarded by a demon. The treasure is what you humans call forma. That demon's skull is precisely the rare forma that will prove useful in your mission… You should have it as a trophy. Please, take it."

"I'd rather have yours."

"…Randy. Will you indulge me in hearing me speak of ancient times?"

"Okay, you've got my curiosity."

"The place you humans know as the Schwarzwelt… Its purpose is, in a sense, to purify the Earth."

"Yes, I know that much." Was it Gore the ubergestalt that had told him that, or was it Asura—or perhaps it was Ouroboros Maia?

"It reflects the anger of the mother goddesses…and of Mother Earth itself, you might say."

"Yes, yes, I know all of this."

"But the earth understood that it would be difficult to carry out. There was once a god that was victorious over the Mothers, and established humanity on Earth…"

"…Now _this_, I did not know. So, the G-d that the angels worship once fought the Mothers and won…"

"As long as He protected the humans, the situation we find ourselves in now could not have occurred."

"So G-d has abandoned us?"

"… But this equilibrium was eroded over time. Humans lost their faith in Him, and He forgot his love for humans."

"This story sounds very familiar…"

"Worship of Him faltered, and the Earth did not fail to seize the moment once His power weakened. The mother goddesses subdued Him as they were once subdued."

"G-d is dead. Or at the very least sealed away."

"In this state, He was torn to pieces, and His dispersed power was sealed in many dimensions…"

"Hence the geometric nature of the demon protecting that seal. So, wait, if you were reclaiming a lost aspect of Yourself… I retract all of my earlier statements about wanting to battle You." Horndog knelt before the angelic figure. Even if He was not at full power…the idea of actually _battling_ G-d was not something that Randy Horndog cared to think about.

"I believe a part of me is sealed deep in this land. It is a power that calls out to me… I can feel it. Your spirit is not in harmony with our own… But even so, I must rely on you. Will you help me free the Lord?"

"My spirit is not as far removed from harmony with Yours as You might think. It is merely Your followers who I find myself at odds with. You can count on me."

"I thank you. Deep in this underground cavern, I believe the power of the Creator sleeps. It is the greatest of His powers. If I can reclaim it, it should be a simple task to regain the rest of my power." The angel returned to the form of a strike team member. "The seal should be broken. Let us go."

Moh Shuvuu had her doubts. "Er, Randy…far be it for me to question you, but…"

"Yeah, I know," he replied, "something's not right here. He kept switching between refrring to the power he was searching for in the third person and in the first person, and according to the Demonica, the mission I just received is called '_False_ god in chains'. That angel isn't really the Almighty…looks like I will have to battle him, after all. Still, this should be fun." With Surt having leveled up already, Horndog considered fusing him with Hecatoncheir to bring Fafnir back, but Fafnir was a lower level than Surt and probably considerably less useful. Yeah, not a single stat in which Fafnir could measure up with Surt. Time to just delete Hecatoncheir outright, then… Time also to see what would be needed to create Alilat.

One Peri and two as-of-yet unknown Heralds. Odd, that three lawful demons would be needed…unless Alilat was itself lawful despite being listed after the Chaos demons. Anyway, where to go this time? Where was there left to go in this mad, mad world? (Well, obviously there was _somewhere_ he'd left unexplored, since he still didn't have Grus's black box.)

It suddenly occurred to Horndog that when he'd arrived in Grus, the Phase Shifter had been set to Sanctum B, and he'd needed to change it to A in order to advance. Evidently, the shifting he'd done down in the basement had had an effect up higher… No, that was ridiculous; otherwise the lowest area would've been set to Sanctum A when he'd first arrived, instead of to normal space. That's right, his rendezvous with Mara had occurred after that, and he had needed to shift it then. So there wasn't going to be any place that he would only be able to find by switching the top floor's Phase Shifter to something other than Sanctum A and going back through the door; that would be impossible.

A Yoma Xiuhtecuhtli asked to join his party, and he refused, but when a second one asked, he accepted, because he remembered that a Yoma could be used as half of the requisite fusion material for an Avatar and he was still curious about that special fusion involving Rangda. The only question was, how to make enough room for the other material? Other than Rangda herself, who was to be fusion material, nearly every demon he had was either indispensable for combat reasons or indispensable for personal reasons. He actually briefly considered fusing Lilim and Moh Shuvuu, as the resulting Alraune would inherit Lilim's Luster Candy, but he looked at the data he already had for Alraune and it had Mediarahan. On the other hand…he looked and compared the stats of the Black Rider he had and the Vetala he'd get if he fused Black Rider with Lilim. Lower MP for the Vetala, but HP would be almost identical. Strength actually favored Vetala by three points, even at a lower level…much lower magic, though. Vitality heavily favored Vetala; agility heavily favored Black Rider. Luck also favored Black Rider. All in all, it seemed like Black Rider was better…but Vetala had the advantage of being the same alignment as Horndog, and this would finally get Luster Candy onto a high-level demon _and_ bring Black Rider's Debilitate to the table as well. Sure, the buff/debuff process would take a bit longer with both skills belonging to the same demon, but it was certainly workable. Only question was what source to use. Vetala's natural skills included Tarunda and Rakunda, both of which were superfluous with Debilitate in play.

Hmm…actually, he had a source that contained Debilitate, but…perhaps Xi Wangmu's source would be useful here. Mana Bonus would help with the MP issues a bit, and with Invitation and Mediarahan, Vetala would be the ultimate support demon. Only question was whether to try to make sure that Fleeting Rain got in there too, or settle for one that contained the other five skills he wanted but with Shibaboo as the sixth? He decided to go for the former option. The Demon Fusion Program proved annoyingly resistant to the idea of axing all three of Vetala's natural skills in favor of the four contained in the source and the two inherited from the fusion material, but Horndog eventually prevailed. Shortly after this, Mara leveled up. Another Mot appeared—Horndog had forgotten how hard they were to defeat, and his new Vetala had to be revived after the battle. Another tough battle involved a Vile Seth—that one ended with Surt petrified. Suddenly it hit him—he had discovered an inoperational elevator when he had been stumbling around blindly looking for Alilat in the first place, or perhaps it was after he'd already found the stairs leading to her location and was merely looking to more completely map out the area that the Phase Shifter covered. It was right near the second plane shifter. Did it even matter which plane he was in once he got there, seeing as how the only exits were "towards elevator" and "away from elevator" anyway? He headed for it. It went to the fourth basement—lower than the lowest point in Grus he'd ever been. Always ominous… a remarkably easy battle against a Samael, and then he headed on. After going through one door, he was at a second door when a woman's voice said, "It is dangerous to go further… You have another duty to fulfill."

"That voice… is that…?" The "strike team member" asked. Horndog headed on, picked up a forma, and approached another door.

"You whose spirit mirrors my own. Turn back. If you understand the will of the Earth…"

"I'm starting to have my doubts about this." He headed back to the terminal, at which point his temporary alliance with Xiuhtecuhtli helped him avoid a battle. He then headed onward, and the path was even shorter. Again the voice.

"Ohh… You have come far… You are being deceived. You must realize that."

"Don't listen! It's just an illusion to confuse you, Horndog. Let's go face whatever's beyond that door!"

"I know the truth…but I'm pressing on anyway."

"Randy… Please heed my words…"

There seemed to be nothing there, but Enemy Search revealed otherwise. An eight-winged angel appeared, sporting plumage in nearly every color of the rainbow and a few that weren't in it.

"Grrrrrr…"

"Ohh… How tragic… To think you've been reduced to a false god… …!"

The demon knocked back the "crewman". "WORSHIP ME! THE CREATOR OF ALL, UNPARALLELED BY ANY!" The demon started attacking everything.

One attack was all it took to know that Horndog was outmatched, and he immediately turned tail and got out of there. This test of strength wasn't worth risking Mem Aleph's vision for, and this god, false or not, could legitimately _kill_ him. Alilat came close a couple of times, and of course there were the times that Maya, either the one in Antlia's simulator or the actual one, had turned him to stone…and the Trumpeter, that was much like facing Alilat when he was still too weak to do large amounts of damage to it at once…but this, this was something else entirely. There would be no escaping this one to "get better."

As for finding a way to get through the door that had first led to Alilat's section of Grus when the top floor's plane shifter was set to something other than Sanctum A…perhaps it wouldn't be impossible after all. Horndog found a secret door from the room just north of the elevator to the northeasternmost room of the maze of one-way doors on the lowest basement of _Maya's_ side. First, he'd head back to see what would await him by trying to backtrack to the entrance to said area while the Plane Shifter was still set to A, and then he'd set it to B and head back in. He headed up the nearby stairs and suddenly realized that this was one of the sections of Grus that he'd failed to properly explore.

He managed to find his way back to the stairs, and found that what he was missing was…not much, unless it was a preset forma. Specifically, there was but a very small room, containing a very useful forma, a Cold Scythe—normally obtainable by knocking off Pale Riders.

There was also the matter of there clearly being a hidden room on the first basement, right near where the stairs from above first led down. He'd detected things in that space before, but no amount of searching could lead to finding the entrance. Perhaps it was actually an area that was accessed through the many warp pads? Well, since he had to return to the entrance anyway, he might as well take Alilat's head to Irving. It turned into the Sub App "Scanning Zero", which would allow him to automap the darkened areas. Irving also had other items available, including something called a Laplace Ring that worked much like the demon ability Laplace Curse—not really worth the Macca, though.

Later, a Nymph Peri decided to join up, and seeing as how she could just as easily be used for the same fusion role as the Xiuhtecuhtli and had five levels on him, plus a Paraladi skill that would be useful for recovering from battles with Persephones, the decision to cut the Yoma loose was easy. Another Cold Scythe came as the party nearly effortlessly dispatched a Pale Rider, although it did cost Horndog one Sacrifice as he got hit by Mamudoon. He also found one of the added advantages of using Peri instead of Xiuhtecuhtli—_she_ could also be combined with a Fallen to create an Avatar, and he encountered a suitable Gemori before he could find an Ammut. Sure enough, Barong was the result. As for the result of the special fusion…

Oh. My. G-d. This was the legendary Shiva, keeper of the most coveted skill of all, Jihad. The Endure that Barong would've passed to her would actually be useless as she naturally had the far better "Enduring Soul". Likewise, Rangda's Debilitate, normally a highly useful skill, was purely superfluous as Jihad did the same exact thing, only with the addition of copious amounts of Almighty damage. With this kind of demon, he'd almost have a team that could take on that…thing. Well, except that he himself was still too weak even if he did manage to get a worthy third demon (Mara was the first, and Shiva would be the second.) What source would do this demon justice? Her own three skills were all extraordinary, but both of the skills she'd inherit from her fusion material were superfluous and would have to be replaced. He'd need a source with three good skills… Norn wasn't bad, with a Drain Wind and a Mediarahan, but either Laplace Curse or Samarecarm would be a potential weak link. Skadi's Cold World was incredible, but Bufudyne wasn't anything special and Explosive Fist even less so…and a regular Mudoon would never cut it. Pale Rider had a Mana Surge, helpful for making Jihad go further…and Mamudoon was decent as well, or else the Killing Wind/Wind Boost combo. He headed down the line, looking for something that could do the trick…Norn's looked to be the best. Ideally, though, he'd have to use a Mitama to cut in a sixth skill. Of course, just getting the first fusion right would be no easy task, as there were a total of nine skills in play here. He finally got one with Laplace Curse as the sixth skill. He went to the door and found it to be quite similar, with an Onogoro Stone instead of a Cold Scythe. Enough exploration of Grus; now it was time to utilize that new Sub App. First up: Solving the mysteries of Sector Delphinus's fifth floor once and for all. The enemies, of course, would only provide a threat when something came up on Enemy Search C—if even then, as the group quickly proved against a Samael. Upon reaching the third floor, he realized that as long as the App was equipped, the floor would automatically appear; he didn't have to remap areas he'd already explored in the dark. (He wondered if the same held true for darkened areas he'd only visited when he didn't have the proper Visualizer—he had yet to actually use his Visualizer C.

Aha—there was a small portion of the fourth floor unmapped, and yes, the same was true of the fifth. Two conveyor belts left unridden. For completion's sake, he finished mapping out the fourth floor as well. Mot proved itself tougher than Samael, as even with everyone using their Almighty skills (except for Vetala, who lacked one), it took two turns to finish it off. When he returned to the ship, he checked in on Irving, and sure enough, the item he'd been hoping to find was available. He'd acquired just enough Vile Prehnites and Bones to be able to make a Solomon Ring, and he had enough Macca to cover the cost. With that ring equipped and his bulletproof Absolute Vest, only physical and almighty attacks could hurt him now. He headed to Horologium to investigate the darkened areas and found that yes, his automap even mapped areas that he had only blindly stumbled through in the past. An Orochi joined up, but the only worthwhile fusion he was able to produce with his current demons would've involved doing the unthinkable and fusing Shiva to another demon. Quite sad, too—the Dragon Quetzalcoatl had some nice skills, Trisagion and Salvation. What else could be combined with a Snake to create a Dragon? …A Kishin could. Pale Rider wasn't expendable, but Alice was, and fusing her with Xi Wangmu would still produce the very powerful Kishin, Thor. Thor itself would be useful…should he even bother with a source? All five of Thor's skills were good…not worth a high-level source. A low-level one, on the other hand…especially one that he could regain without _too_ much trouble. The five skills he naturally had (or would've gotten from his material demons with no source) were Ziodyne, Electric Amp, Mortal Jihad, Mana Surge, and Makarakan. Now, who did he know who naturally had an electric attack—say, maybe someone who had given him more Mazio Stones than he could possibly need during the early part of his journey? As always, going for a specific combo proved to be an exercise in tedium, but he eventually got a Thor with the five skills he would've gotten without a source and Mazio from Lilim's source. He summoned it into Mara's spot in the party to begin working on leveling it up. Almost immediately thereafter, Vetala leveled up and he put Lilim back in the active party, partly to work on acquiring a new source and partly because he wanted some quality time with her.

* * *

><p>CCX: …Okay, this is getting ridiculous. At first, I was afraid that this chapter would be too short, because I cut off the last chapter closer to the end of the plot than I thought—but with this silly word processor not showing proper page counts, I found that I'd gotten to eight pages without even realizing it and that this cannot possibly be the final chapter after all. (Which is a shame, because given the way Horndog has ended up, telling his story in exactly 13 chapters seems oddly apropos.) Even though I'm sure Horndog is at a sufficient level to take on the final boss already—especially with this being the Chaos Route, the easiest of the three (because with the possible exception of that NGP-only boss that I got owned by there, Mem Aleph is the toughest thing this game has to offer, and she's the final boss of both the Neutral and Law Routes)—but nevertheless, it looks like there's going to be a lot of level-grinding, mostly just to take care of leveling up demons and collecting their sources. The extreme deficit of Macca might be a factor in why we're doing a lot of otherwise pointless fights, too. So let's just cut this chapter here and come back when we get to the good stuff—either facing the final boss, or actually getting strong enough to beat Demiurge. Or more likely, we'll have the final boss and end of the plot in Chapter 14, and then have the showdown with Demiurge in Chapter 15, because it wouldn't be the first time that we had to separate game mechanics from story mechanics (namely, every time I got a game over). This would of course be accomplished by saving the clear data to a different save file and then loading the data from before I beat the final boss in order to continue grinding until Demiurge is beatable. Ja ne!<p> 


	14. Chapter 14: In Horndog We Trust

Crewman Horndog screws his way through the Schwartzwelt  
>by Cyberchao X<p>

Disclaimer: The Shin Megami Tensei series is property of Atlus.

Chapter 14: In Horndog We Trust

Horndog found that the darkened part of Horologium's first basement, which he'd blindly navigated in order to find Barong, was much larger than he thought. He eventually found a part where it connected to the trap-floor-filled northern section of the floor, and also found a suspiciously-placed heal spot. A terminal, however, turned out to be nearby, which made it less suspicious—to a certain degree.

He also found that leveling low-level demons was quite easy when you had a Shiva in your party, as she could wipe out even Horologium's rank and file with a single Jihad and would regenerate the MP when the battle ended. The Laplace Curse might have helped make this even more glaring, but either way, it didn't seem like anything short of an Enemy Search C demon or a boss would be able to survive the first hit from her. As for those forma that he saw on his map but couldn't reach…it seemed there was no choice but to trek across the poisonous floor. Seeing as how he still had 7-Card Hand and could freely switch out any apps he wanted, he temporarily disabled Scanning Zero so that he could utilize Medic. Yep, that solved everything—it was all back there, no hidden doors required. Next stop was Sector Eridanus, if only to report in to Dantalian. He paid 4000 Macca and asked for a map of the fifth floor of Sector Bootes. Odd…Horndog was sure he'd mapped all of Bootes. Were there tiles on the fifth floor that he'd intentionally failed to tread on because they dealt damage, or was there still a hidden room he'd missed? A Naga asked to join him on the way up. Interesting…even the weak Naga would produce powerful demons when fused with his powerful demons. A Mushussu, for example, would be the result if he were to fuse the little thing with one of his Tyrants. While Mara wasn't going anywhere, Surt… but Mushussu wasn't his goal. Explaining his plan to Lilim, he put the Naga in his party, with the intention of leveling him up a bit, grabbing the source, and getting Nidhoggr. To this end, Lilim happily allowed herself to be put back in the reserve line. An Ubu also wanted in, but space was full. When he reached the fifth floor, he found that the former was indeed the case. Naga leveled up very quickly—three fights just remaining in Bootes were enough. It still didn't change the projected demon from Mushussu to Nidhoggr, though—thinking about it logically, if Mara, 11 levels higher than Surt, was also showing Mushussu, then it would take at least 12 levels before Naga + Surt = Nidhoggr. He picked one more fight as he was leaving Bootes and headed back to Dantalian for his payout. On the way, he encountered a Mot with two Mushussus—just from the Mushussus, the Naga gained three more levels and Horndog ended up adding to his overly large collection of Mazio Stones. (As far as electric demons went, though, Naga was actually quite a useful source to obtain, as his could actually grant electricity resistance.) Another enemy search revealed experience-granting minions, this time a Tlaloc with a pair of Toufeis, and Naga gained another level, turning its Lunge into Mudo. Just 2000 Macca this time, and the new goal was Horologium's first floor. That's odd…Horndog thought he'd explored every last bit of the darkened areas after getting his new app. Oh, well, it certainly couldn't hurt his attempts to obtain a Nidhoggr. Later still, Zio turned into Poison Claw. Horndog once again switched Medic in for Scanning Zero, wanting to traverse every bit of the first basement as well, just for completion's sake. He returned to Eridanus and found that a single Eridanus battle no longer gave Naga an automatic level-up. 8000 Macca this time. Next mission… Horndog prayed that "Grus" wasn't part of it.

It wasn't. Instead, it was again Sector Horologium, the 8th basement. Already did it. 8000 more macca. Sector Fornax. First basement. Apparently not complete; expecting dark areas, although those pitfall traps—or hell, all of Alice's side and her crazy rabbit chase—could've goten in the way. Sounds like fun, though; Fornax was so straightforward that there's rarely any motivation to return there (other than hoping that one of the dark demons used as fusion material comes to its senses and joins up. While Horndog had already had a Valkyrie and a Kwancha at points, wrangling a Pisaca would be no easy task. Moloch…Ose would be no trouble; he might've even gotten one already just by accident. And the pieces for Morax were Itsumade, Melchom, and Oni—all but one of which he'd already owned at one point. Wait, had he owned a Melchom?

He certainly hadn't owned _that_ Melchom. An all-out cheap-artist, the build takes advantage of Melchom naturally repelling fire and gives it five other repel skills, plus Endure for in case it gets hit by an almighty or instant-kill attack.

Tiamat, Tiamat could easily be done. He'd had a Pabilsag briefly, for some long unforgotten reason, and he'd had Tlaltecuhtli, and he could easily have Mushussu…but then there's getting Kingu to join.

But of course, there was the matter of trying to get a Reaper Hel to join up, because she was the necessary pawn in bringing Orcus on board.

Poison Claw became Mabufu. Definitely an upgrade as that had started as a Zio. Level 22 brought Naga giving a Zionga Stone to Randy. It was all Alice's fault, and it was time to complete that entire region, just to be safe. This meant intentionally jumping through a lot of pits, and unintentionally dropping a few times, as well. Just as he was wrapping up, it looked like it was Naga's big chance—a Black Rider had appeared. Horndog used Moan Bullet and Shiva used Jihad and Thor used Makarakarn, not that it did anything, and Naga defended. And somehow, that last bit was useful as Black Rider's normal attack was not strong enough to kill the defending Snake. However, the grand total of level-ups after the battle was 2, and only one of those belonged to Naga. (Moh Shuvuu got the other, reasserting her authority over Lilim.) "Shoulda just gone after a Vouivre." The Resist Elec disappeared at Level 27, replaced by a completely useless Fire Boost. Without Mitamas, this snake would be useless right now, and at the very least, he's just one level shy of a Yurlungur. Finally, its level was high enough that _Mara_ could make a Nidhoggr with it…Luckily for Naga, Fornax was a large place, and Horndog was determined to map it all out. For awhile he did so in silence, the affects of an enemy ability that he hadn't really bothered to deal with, as they didn't affect him much. Thor leveled up, and then an enemy Thor appeared. Randy started by using a Dis-Mute; Thor used Makarakarn, Shiva used Jihad, and Naga went back into the Demonica because it's not like enemy searches that don't bring sidekicks actually give out experience unless they're Riders or the Trumpeter. Anyway, time to fuse the Kishin with the Snake. Thor + Orochi = Quetzalcoatl, with Trisagion, Salvation, Rakukaja, and Poisma. With the "Severe Fire Damage" of Trisagion, only one demon could possibly lend its source to this creation: Surt, Tyant of Fire, wielder of the mighty Laevateinn and the skill Ragnarok, and a Fire Amp. Unfortunately, Quetzalcoatl was a mere level 69, whereas Surt is 78. This would require heavy grinding.

The crew of the Red Sprite was also to blame for some of the other failures to map, due to the rapid way Horndog had been sent back to the ship after his win against Orcus. Okay, Fornax had been fully mapped. Back to Dantalian.

6000 Macca for that task…5000 for the very floor they were on in Eridanus…6000 for the fourth basement of Fornax. Horndog had seen a pattern—all jobs paid X000 Macca, where X was the ordinal number of the region the map was in. The second basement of Horologium…a worthy challenge. Was that not the mad conveyor belt maze? He knew how to navigate it, and had merely avoided certain conveyor belts because he knew that taking them would be counterproductive to doing so. A Yoma Shiwanna joined up, and its fusion chart would have it become a Hanuman if he were to fuse it with Quetzalcoatl. While he had no intentions of fusing Quetzalcoatl with anything at the moment (although Antlia's simulator might speed up the timetable), Hanuman was a Genma, which meant…he could be converted into a Fiend. Red Rider's visage stared at him from the Fusion Screen…and the Red Rider was fire-based as well, and would naturally inherit Trisagion and Ragnarok from Quetzalcoatl. Unfortunately, the necessary sources didn't even provide him one with a Boost, much less an Amp, to Fire.

Antlia's simulator helped Naga and Quetzalcoatl along. For the first two battles, nobody did any special attacks and the enemies were defeated in one turn; for the Horkos battle, Shiva Jihad'd it to death in one hit; Asura also went down without getting a chance to attack, but with Horndog following Shiva's Jihad with a Moan Bullet. Naga's Mabufu became Mana Bonus. Ouroboros Maia was also defeated in one turn (Jihad-Moan Bullet only hitting once-Trisagion), and Naga's Fire Boost became Arrow Rain. Oddly, when Tiamat was defeated, Quetzalcoatl didn't gain a level, but Shiva did. Naga also gained two. Next came the Maya fight. Vetala, ultimate support demon, took Naga's place. Only Horndog himself gained a level in that battle. The computer then spat out an error, saying that data for what sounded like "Mastema" could not be loaded. Then another error, and something that sounded like Zelenin's name. The next opponent listed was…Jimenez? "Must be from an alternate continuity where I sided with either Gore or Zelenin." What he saw…didn't exactly look like Jimenez. It also didn't attack much, instead using almost every turn on buffing its stats. It did give out a nasty attack called "Shuffler", though, which gave bomb status to multiple members of the party. Quetzalcoatl's Salvation ought to have covered it, but Shiva and Horndog took care of the enemy before it could even become a question. No more battles, he decided. Too much risk. Quetzalcoatl plus Shiwanna still equaled Red Rider, but even though Naga plus Mara now equaled Fafnir, Naga plus Surt still equaled Mushussu. Now, while it seems like a waste to use a source on a fusion containing that demon as material, it truly was the best option—Quetzalcoatl's source would add a Fire Amp and an Endure. Maragidyne, Trisagion, and Ragnarok all Fire Amped, with Endure and Retaliate. A no-support, all-out offensive style perfectly suiting the bloodthirsty Rider.

Eventually he got Naga strong enough to make a Nidhoggr…and suddenly he realized that Nidhoggr wasn't as good as he thought it was. He finished exploring the many conveyor belts of the second basement. His next task was to explore the second floor of Sector Bootes, a task that was harder than it sounded. Naga was eventually fused into a Thunderbird, and when Horndog returned to Dantalian, he was surprised to find that he hadn't completed the task. Perhaps he had to fall down from the other pitfall on the third floor? Yes, that worked. Just a tiny missed passage…Twice during his second trip, he found his party grossly endangered by a Vile Seth. The downside to giving his lower-leveled demons experience… The next floor was the third basement of Horologium, which Horndog already had finished. Then was the third floor of Bootes…a pity he had been so overcome by Seths, as he'd only left one tile unexplored, right next to the pitfall he'd jumped into to finish off the second floor. He had also come to the conclusion that this Thunderbird was useless, and wasn't worth the effort to get a source from. Fusing it with a Fury would get a Herald, such as would be needed to obtain Alilat. Shiva was too valuable to get rid of, but he had enough Macca to resummon Kartikeya…Israfel would be the result when using the weaker Kartikeya, as opposed to the Azrael that Shiva would produce. Israfel's skills were subpar, though. Horndog used Tlaltecuhtli's source to get rid of Recarmdra. Looking over _its_ fusion chart, fusing it with Pale Rider would produce the Megami Amaterasu, but more interestingly, fusing it with Shiva would produce Mot, and a Mot that would have Jihad and Life Surge at that. Yeah, Susano-O would probably work just as well as Shiva for the purposes of creating Mot, but it wouldn't have Jihad. Time to start saving up Macca.

Shortly after the completion of Bootes's third floor, Horndog encountered a Fallen Bifrons, which he recognized as being both an easy source thanks to its low level and a piece of Mitra's fusion. He decided to stick around in Bootes for a bit, and while he was searching for another Bifrons (as the first one attacked him after he botched the negotiations), Green Grass convinced the other missing piece, Ippon-Datara, to join. Unfortunately, things were now getting quite crowded. He sent Lilith packing. Bifrons proved difficult to negotiate with, and while he quickly obtained Ippon-Datara's source, he botched numerous attempts at winning over Bifrons, even getting the third piece, Fomorian (which he'd already had at one point, just like every other member of the Night family), to join up.

A Mot appeared; the new Fomorian was switched out for Shiva. Shiva used Mediarahan after the battle, and shortly thereafter, there was another one. Finally, a Bifrons joined up, without Horndog even having to make any concessions…except he'd forgotten to clear a spot for it, so he had to find one one more time. Bifrons's source, however, would take a bit longer, as the analysis level was not yet complete. Red Rider leveled up, giving his source after the initial level-up had left him with an incomplete analysis bar. Horndog then got paid for the exploration of Bootes, as well as for Fornax's first floor, Antlia's second basement, Bootes's eighth floor, Fornax's second basement…the next task he asked for was Eridanus's third floor, an impossible task given the alignment requirements of accessing certain parts of it. Next up was Horologium's lowest basement, another area that Horndog had explored in full. Delphinus's sixth, seventh, and ninth floors, Horologium's first basement, Antlia's first basement…finally, he was given a challenge that he'd yet to complete, exploring the sixth basement of Sector Fornax. "Curious, though, that he _hasn't_ asked for Sector Grus even once…perhaps areas with teleport pads are considered out of bounds; he hasn't asked for Eridanus's first floor either." He explored and found that there was a single tile in the darkened area that he hadn't traversed, then returned and was told that he still hadn't been thorough enough. Perhaps if he shifted the plane, he'd find what he was missing? Bifrons maxed out his analysis bar at level 23, so upon reaching level 24, he'd be ready to be fused into Mitra. The source had far more skills than Bifrons itself did. Mitra was fused together using the Ippon-Datara's source to eliminate the weak Crescent Slice in favor of the stronger Explosive Fist, as well as adding the Rampage skill. This also revealed to Horndog the recipe for Mithras. The other half was…a Deity? That was strange. Orcus's other half was Hel; Moloch's was Ose; Asherah's was Valkyrie. …Well, Valkyrie wasn't a Fornax native, actually; she hailed from Grus. But that was still a far cry from being of a family that could only be created through fusion.

A Da Peng asked in, and two possibilities for fusion intrigued Horndog. The first was Kingu, which as mentioned before, would be needed to fuse together Tiamat—but then again, Mushussu was no longer immediately available, and he still had to get Mitra's source before fusing it. The other was Garuda, which he'd had before, but he now knew could easily be used as an ingredient for Azrael. Of course, it was none other than Israfel itself that would need to be used as fusion material, so he'd want to wait until he not only had Israfel's source, but also the necessary Macca to resummon him. Upon shifting back to the original space, he discovered that yeah, he'd missed quite a bit, including a chest with a Great Chakra. Mitra leveled up multiple times while Horndog worked on the analysis bar, and Explosive Fist became Hamaon. Just to make absolutely sure he'd gotten it all, he shifted to Sanctum A, and he was fine. Mitra's bar was finished in a battle in which he also leveled up—Level 30. Horndog summoned Shiva for some Horologium power-leveling. He also decided to more closely explore the fourth basement, though he doubted that Dantalian would ask him to, because there was a permanently fixed forma in an area he hadn't been able to reach. He explored the lava-filled area that had hidden the path onwards, using Shiva's Mediarahan repeatedly to keep the party's HP up, but still couldn't find his way to it, though he did discover a room with a chest.

…Now _that_ could help with power-leveling. A Trumpeter appeared. It was taken out in a few turns, but…shortly thereafter, the progress was lost when a Vile Seth turned most of the party, Horndog included, to stone. Amazingly, another Trumpeter was found. It was amazing to think of the Trumpeter, seemingly the most fearful enemy of all, as "not that big a threat", but with Horn of Fate a non-factor, only Megidolaon was a serious threat, and Trumpeter's Megidolaon was nothing compared to what he'd faced against Alilat. Speaking of which, shortly after taking down a Seth successfully, Israfel leveled up. The resulting Garuda would've been better than his last one, and if he were so inclined, he could make it into a real monster…but it would need plenty of leveling up to be truly effective; it would be a situational creature optimized solely for Wind-weak foes, and besides it was the wrong alignment for him. Nevertheless, he used Fortuna's source to give it Wind Boost. Metatron itself would've appeared if Horndog were to fuse Garuda with Shiva, so he tried bringing back Kartikeya. Still too strong; this would've produced Aniel. He removed his Paracelsus and Laplace Sub Apps, but this only downgraded it to Sraosha. Could a Fury be downgraded by a Prime? Could a Herald?

No on both counts. It was inevitable, then; he'd either have to find a way to create a weaker Fury, or find a different recipe for a Herald. Hmm…combining Garuda with an Avatar might work. Kaiming Shou seemed like it might be weak enough…

Or, perhaps, _too _weak_._ He returned to the ship after discovering the hidden passage on the fourth basement, ready to start experimenting with Primes. Well, at least an Avatar _could_ be primed…now to find which one would result in a rank up.

Flaemis did the job. Seeing as how Kaiming Shou was enough to get Israfel, Chimera, six levels ahead of Kaiming Shou, should suffice to get Azrael. It didn't; Kazfiel, halfway between Israfel and Azrael, was the would-be result. The next level of Avatar was Anubis, and fusing _that_ with Garuda would create…Sraosha. Perhaps without the Sub Apps…

Irving informed Horndog that a new item was available. It turned out to be the Vitality Incense, available thanks to the latest Eerie Cornet acquisition. Removing Paracelsus was sufficient, and Horndog brought Israfel back on board, but with Macca reserves low once more, he headed out to Grus to acquire a new Peri. Besides, he _still_ hadn't found the Grus black box. What he found was a Reaper Mot, which was easily defeated. A Peri appeared alongside a Heimdall and joined up of its own accord. Alilat was ready. As things stood now, its skills would be Megidolaon, Diarahan, Concentrate, Drain Ice, and Trisagion. All good skills, but it lacked a sixth, and Diarahan wouldn't really be terribly necessary with Shiva's Mediarahan around. Would Shiva's source be the best option?

Not necessarily. Megidolaon would be just as good as Jihad from a purely damage-based standpoint. Pale Rider's Mana Surge would be useful, but the rest of its skills were a poor fit with Alilat. Perhaps Red Rider? Red Rider also had a Mana Surge, and it would boost Fire, an element that Alilat would already be using (with Trisagion, which was also on the source.) Alternatively, why not give a little elemental variety? Titania had a Mana Gain and also had Thunder Reign and Maziodyne for multi-target electric damage, while Ouroboros also had Maziodyne and had a Mana Surge as well. And then there was the temptation of the Occult Flash that Vetala and Thor had to offer. In the end, he decided to go with Red Rider's, with Mana Surge, Retaliate, and Fire Boost all coming on board, taking out Diarahan and Concentrate. Looking at the special fusion chart afterwards, he saw that under normal circumstances, the Trisagion in Alilat's source-free fusion would've been a _Recarmdra_, but of course, _his_ Israfel didn't _have_ that ability…

"…Okay, enough fooling around. Alilat was the final piece of the puzzle."

"You mean…it's finally time to take the last step?" Lilim and Moh Shuvuu both asked.

"Yep. Go time."

* * *

><p>He set out for Eridanus, intending to visit Dantalian one last time to deliver his most recent information, but not to get a new mission from him. Shiva, Alilat, and Mara would be the trio that would be at his side as he approached the Vanishing Point…because Horndog was not naïve enough to believe that the angels would leave it unguarded. Especially not after both Mastema and Jimenez seemed to make a point of mentioning Zelenin…she would almost certainly be his final opponent.<p>

"Alright, here we are," Jimenez said. "This Vanishing Point will become a gate to Hell."

"To Hell? I dunno, I kind of like this place. Then again, I suppose if Ms. Ferre is goig to be ruling over it, it technically _is_ Hell, isn't it?"

"But there'll be no torments or prisons for us there… this gate'll set our souls free. We'll establish a beautiful world where might makes right!"

"I forbid it, Jimenez! Randy! You will not open that gate! There will be no world of demons created today!"

"Hmmm…you're looking well, Zelenin. I think that's the first time you've ever called me by my first name…I guess 'angels' don't feel the need to follow protocol, huh?"

"…You… So the wannabe angel shows her face…!"

"Right…I wonder if you'd still want to be an angel if you knew what the politics up there were _really_ like. I met something that seemed to be an avatar of G-d himself. He seemed quite reasonable, very much the type of being whose ideals you'd believe in…very much the type who _I_ believe in. But I also met a Seraph, and of course, your old friend Mastema… and they're not so reasonable. Did you know that Mastema was acting in his own interests all along? He wanted to become a god. Perhaps you forgot that part of the bible…the part where "the Satan" does _not_ refer to Lucifer, the most famed holder of that title, but to the Angel of Hostility, he who would have had Abraham sacrifice Isaac… _Mastema_. These angels, they are evil beings. Do not join them. Come with us, and together we shall create a world where demons, humans, and even angels can live together harmoniously."

"Why do humans and demons so eagerly walk the path of destruction…? Why will you not accept the perfect guidance of our Lord?"

"…She doesn't listen to a damn word I say, does she? I heard Metatron out, and he was quite forthright about the nature of the gods. I do not know if he is really the one and only _יהוה _or not, but…I do believe that his message is that of the Lord. I do not believe that the vision of a "perfect world" with no _free thought_ that Mastema and the Three Wise Men have _poisoned your mind with_ is what the Lord truly wants. I realize that I'm probably not terribly popular with the demons," he glared at Jimenez, "for even still believing in the power of the god who opposed the Mothers, but…I am _not_, as Ubergestalt Gore suggested, a demon disguised as a human. I am _Randy Motherfuckin' HORNDOG!_"

"…It was difficult to reconcile my desire to save everyone with His wishes, it is true…" She transformed into something that evoked images of crucification. "But what I have seen in this Schwarzwelt has provided me with an answer."

"'Saint Zelenin', huh… You're beyond help now."

"…The evil soul is rotten down to the foundation. No hymn can absolve it…"

"I'm not sure if you can even recognize what evil is."

"It can receive no salvation but to be erased… no cleansing but annihilation!"

"You don't even realize how utterly under God's thumb you are. If that's bliss to you, I can't help you there. But we're not so weak that you can take us out with borrowed power, I guarantee. One of us is gonna be eradicated from this world, but which one? Wanna test it, Zelenin?"

"Hmm…yes, I wonder who _would_ win if the two of you fought." _"Regardless of which one won, the winner would be so tired out that they'd be easy prey. Idiots, the both of them."_

"Randy…I'll drown out that off-key song of hers. Use that opportunity to take her down!"

Horndog started out the same way he started every boss battle—with Moan Bullet. Alilat used Trisagion, Shiva used Jihad, and Mara used Concentrate. Zelenin used an all-targeting physical attack. Next turn, everyone repeated their actions except Mara, who released a Megidolaon, and Zelenin, who used Wave of Death. On turn three, Mara used a Tetrakarn—to no effect as Zelenin was quicker. Turn four, Mara went back to Concentrate as Shiva used Mediarahan. As Shiva's MP ran down, though, she was unable to use Jihad, at which point it was discovered, completely by accident, that Zelenin was weak against _physical attacks._ An attack called Right Hand boosted Zelenin's stats and healed her a little bit, and then something called Sinner's Song ended up Charming Horndog. Suddenly, the weakness to physical attacks was gone. On a hunch, Horndog tried gun attacks, but they didn't do the trick. Two more rounds of the team's best attacks finished her off.

"You got that angel's body for being willing to die for God, and hey! So you did. Pretty embarrassing way to go out, Zelenin. You all got together and sang hymns to God… probably felt like you were part of something bigger. Hah! What a load of it! You weren't any bigger! You just lost yourself…!"

"Somewhere here inside," Randy mused. Jimenez drew closer.

"The new world doesn't need any people like that, who can't prove their own worth. Right, Randy?"

"…Leave me out of this. I don't want to get caught up in the politics of Heaven and Hell any longer. I just want the freedom to live life as _I_ see fit."

"We came here to solve the mystery of the Schwarzwelt… but what we found was an even stronger bond between demons and humans."

Randy smiled. "You can say that again." He let his favorite demons out of the DSP. The two of them immediately grabbed a hold of him. "Doesn't get much stronger than this."

"Can you see it yet? Maybe not, with that Demonica still on."

"You don't mean…is it safe for me to come out?"

"But I can see it. Just past that giant gate… A bright new world pulsing with the power and freedom of humans and demons alike! Release it! Set it free! The power of the Schwarzwelt…!" The four Cosmic Eggs shone, and Mem Aleph's voice told them to go forth and bestow the power of the Schwarzwelt on the Earth that cries out in pain.

Randy did so, and the energy of creation was released onto the Earth from the Vanishing Point. Its power covered the Earth in an instant… Wiping away human civilization, which was divorced from the laws of nature. After this great cataclysm, the power of creation built a new world. A world full of life, ruled over by demons…and certain humans.

"The new world is beautiful, isn't it?" Jimenez asked. "Once the Earth is purified by the demons, it'll regain its power. The old, filthy spirits of the humans are cleared away… hope and freedom are returning to us! Yep, those who are supposed to die will die… that's the way of the beautiful world of old. There, the demons will reclaim their true godly forms. As they revert to their divine selves, our world will regain its former power."

"Yeah, you're babbling incoherently. The 'world' has no power of its own; it's an inanimate hunk of rock and magma, covered by inanimate oceans."

"And humans…they'll reestablish their ties with demons."

"Half-demons such as yourself won't be such a rarity…starting with this little bundle of joy." He put his arm around Lilim's stomach.

"Under demon rule, the days of training one's body and mind will start. For the sake of the violent souls that thrive in this world…! Now, c'mon, Randy! To our home, pulsing with life…!"

The powers that govern life on Earth have regained their true forms, thanks to the demons. They descended upon the Earth as gods of power, freedom, and hope. There are no fallen humans left there to bring ruin… Only those whose own strength blazes brightly are permitted to live in the new world…

Randy Horndog lives in this new world with his many wives and children, expanding the number of both on a frequent basis. None would ever take a higher place in his heart than his beloved Lilim and their firstborn son, though.

* * *

><p>CCX: So, we've reached the end of the story...but there's still one more chapter left! Like I promised, I'm going to keep on grinding until I can get strong enough to take down Demiurge, and will cover Horndog's battle against Demiurge in the "postscript" chapter.<p> 


	15. Chapter 15: Marketing In The New World

Crewman Horndog screws his way through the Schwartzwelt  
>by Cyberchao X<p>

Disclaimer: The Shin Megami Tensei series is property of Atlus.

CCX: Yeah, I realized afterwards that I had messed up, and Shiva is male. Oops.

Chapter 15: Marketing in the New World

Through sales of any material forma that exceeded 16 in number (16 because he'd found that 8 was generally sufficient to create anything), Horndog made a total of over 2 _million_ Macca, primarily from Grus and Horologium's main Enemy Searchers. Even the toughest demons he had were less than half a million, with only Geist going over the edge. He used Ourobouros's Source to fuse a Garuda to Shiva, summoning Metatron himself. Megidolaon and Judgement Light from the natural…Jihad from Shiva, Life Surge from Garuda…and Mana Surge and Maziodyne from the source. The tinkering added over 151K to Metatron's cost… Cost, if done properly, can be beautiful. By selling off a lot of excess forma (but not too much, because you never know when you'll need something in bulk), he had money to handle almost demon-summoing problem he could be given, Even Alilat, by far the most expensive demon, could only take maybe a quarter of the new reserves. Horndog resummoned Shiva afterwards…it was glorious. Of course, Eridanus would be the testing place, as he still needed to sort it out, and the group found a Red Rider. Metatron was replacing Mara in the party. Would it be able to push one of trio for a permanent spot?

Of course it would; the enemy had no known weaknesses, so combos were not an issue. He also managed to use Shiva to pass along both Jihad and Victory Cry to a Tyrant _Abbadon_, at which point it was just too tempting. He recruited the two necessary angels and created Mastema.

Later, Alilat leveled up, but also changed its Fire Boost skill into a useless Gun Boost. In attempting to turn it into something useful using Mitama/Sources, he ended up with a fusion accident. He registered the zealot and then fused it with a Power that had asked aboard to create a Vile Pales. Mabufudyne/Vigilant/Dekaja/Retaliate/Mana Surge was the natural quintet; he decided to use Yuki Jyorou's source to boost the Ice ability. He then discovered that a high-level Fairy combined with Shiva would create Vishnu. Vishnu _and_ Shiva together, it would be a Hindu dream, wouldn't it? Although the "Demonee-ho" thing was almost too adorable to fuse.

Later he got the remaining fiends, Trumpeter and White Rider, but in the end, the team of choice was Shiva, Metatron, and Mastema—all of them at least strong against most elements, and in Shiva's case, everything except ice was either drained or reflected; Mastema also had multiple reflections. After using the machine in Antlia a few times, he had the team where he wanted it. The battle was long and somewhat dull to describe, because it mostly consisted of the three demons using Jihad while Horndog either used Moan Bullet or refueled the party using Chakra Pots and Great Chakras. Occasionally Disaster Cycle would afflict the party with ailments, and Mastema would use Salvation, or a Big Bang would prompt a Mediarahan from Shiva. But seriously, this wasn't a terribly interesting battle to write about.

"What power… this son of man has gained."

"So it wasn't a god, after all? …Oh, you meant me."

"He has even defeated a part of God… But I thank you. Now I can…Holy spirit of our creator! Return to me!" The "crewman" became pure light and melded with Demiurge.

"Randy… This is… our last chance. Turn off your Demonica's search function… Please! It will make this demon unstable… Then I can seal him away. Turn your Demonica's search function off…!" Randy wasn't entirely sure this was right.

"I…I have regained the power of a creator. Randy… Thou fought well. Thine actions helped me to reclaim my power. 'Twill not be long before I again assume my true form, full of light. But 'tis a pity. Thou art tainted by chaos. Thine existence hath not the holy light, and I must destroy thee."

"Wait, _what?_ I let you stick around!"

"Should've listened to that voice," Lilim said.

"Why are you still here? This could get really dangerous really fast. Run away, now!"

"Randy… I am not without compassion. I shall let thee go this time…"

"…Okay, never mind."

"Come on, Randy, you know I wouldn't let you risk your life without me."

The voice came again. "Oh, no… The seal has been broken… This is a catastrophe…"

"…Eh, not my problem."

* * *

><p>CCX: Maybe this epilogue was a waste of time.<p> 


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